Resident Evil 4: Rivaling Union
by Pete the Rock
Summary: Ash, Gary and Paul must put their hatred aside when a Team Rocket pitfall sends them to desolate Spain and face the Los Illuminados. Rated for violence, gore and some language. FirstDaughterShipper.
1. Descubrimiento de una Falta de Cabeza

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon (Nintendo) or Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)  
>Summary: Ash, Gary and Paul must put aside their hatred after one Team Rocket pitfall sends them to desolate Spain. FirstDaughterShipper. Rated for blood, gore and minor language.<em>

_**Resident Evil 4: Rivaling Union**_

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><p><em>Chapter 1:<em>_Descubrimiento de una Falta de Cabeza_

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><p>A path down a dirt road had a hole in the way. Piles of dirt build on two sides. Trouble's brewing. In the hole equipped with shovels, a couple in white uniforms dug deep pits. One was a female with wavy blood red hair. She wore a white mid-drift shirt with a red 'R' on it, white skirt and black thigh-high boots. One was a male with dampened blue hair. He donned a white uniform with that same red 'R' on it. "Listen, is that the author's spoiler I hear?" she teased.<p>

"He's starting the cliffhanger loud and clear," the male continued.

"On the wind..."

"Pass the stars..."

"Can it, you two!" a cat with a gold oval coin wedged in it's forehead snarled. Boy, the story's just started and there's already conflict. "The twerps will be here any minute while you two are practicing your motto." The white cat was distraught over something related to these twerps.

"Give it a rest, Meowth," the redhead mulled. "Once again, we're ahead of the twerps, our pit's set and all we need are them to cross this path and boom, we'll escape with their Pokémon." It never settled with Meowth.

"How many holes have we dug up since we found Pikachu to be worth the boss' time? What makes this hole any different?"

"I can give you a simple answer that practice makes perfect. I made sure that not only will the twerps fall into our hole but I dug a special hole for you to vacuum Pikachu." She became elaborate. She and the blue-haired man climbed out of the hole, overlapping it with a wooden screen, covering it with a layer of grass and pouring the dirt onto the grass. They covered it up nice and smooth. "Knowing that the twerps are heading to Sunnyshore City, they'll be blissfully unaware that their morale will plummet along with them." Crafty. Meowth's ears tickled.

"Hurry, Jessie! They're coming!" Jessie and the blue-haired man dove for the bushes, along with Meowth but they made one big error: the blue-haired man fumbled a small shovel which laid on the trap. He recognized the mistake but there's no time to go and retrieve it for two reasons: if he went to get it back, he'd be the one falling into the trap. The other was that two young men and a mouse were arriving. One was a raven-haired youngster wearing a red baseball cap and jeans to go with his slim black vest over a white t-shirt. The other was a wild spiky brunette male in a lavender t-shirt and cord pants. The raven-haired had a yellow mouse which detailed a lightning bolt as a tail on his shoulder. Meowth was puzzled. "Hold on, something's not right here!" the blue-haired would agree.

"You're right," he verified. "I recognized that kid with the twerp. That's the grandson of Prof. Oak, back in Pallet Town and the twerp's rival who lost to him in the Silver Conference." Someone's informative.

"I don't care what special title that twerp has," Jessie hissed. "He's still a twerp." That ain't nice to say.

"No matter what they are, you're still gonna defy what they say, right?"

"The only figure I'm not gonna defy is the boss! Got it? That also goes for that Blondie Champion!" Harboring hatred, the three watched on.

"So, Gary," the raven-haired addressed to the brunette. "When are you returning to Pallet?" Gary had a feeling he was embarrassing his friend.

"Are you making a reference that Profs. Rowan and Carolina don't want me around, Ashy-Boy?" he teased. "Or are you worried that Paul may challenge me to see how inferior I am since retiring from Pokémon training?" Ashy-Boy heard the response but had a different reason to ask.

"I mean, you've been here in Sinnoh for sometime. I'm concern that you may be missing Prof. Oak at least a little bit." Gary chuckled a little. Something funny?

"I don't blame you, Ash. You didn't really know that I called him the day before-" He stopped altogether when he spotted a violet-haired young man wearing a black-blue spring jacket. He wore a scowl like everything that he faced was not to his liking. He was also standing on top of the trap picking up the small shovel. Ash was a bit surprised to see him, unaware of the trap in the middle.

"Paul!" Hearing his name, the violet-haired youngster turned his malcontent face to the two.

"What do you want?" he scorned. Not happy to see the two, no surprise there. Seeing Gary, his cold glare got freezing. "You're not Gary Oak, are you?" Gary was being called out.

"I am." The boys were all on the trap which still failed to give way. Jessie and Meowth were stunned that there was so much weight which failed to break open the ground. They knew who's responsible for the wood.

"James, what wood did you purchase for the trap?" Jessie questioned. James went to his memory bank.

"I was told that it was plywood and I chipped it to weaken the support," he explained. Not weakened enough. Back to the boys...

"If not for your arrogance back in the Silver Conference, you would have defeated this pathetic excuse for a trainer," Paul downgraded Gary. Gary did not appreciate the scolding from Ash's rival to another rival.

"Hey, he caught me off guard!" Gary protested. "It's not my fault he had his Charizard bombard the battlefield with his Flamethrower!" This was about to take some time and Ash wasn't all the patient with waiting for these two to end their argument. The shovel in Paul's hand was his ticket to breaking this up.

"Hey, Paul?" he voiced. "Did you find that shovel?" Paul snapped from Gary's mouth and spun to see the shovel.

"Yeah, it was laying right here," he replied. "Why it's here, I could care less about." Gary became suspicious. Could it be that someone was digging around for something only to be scared off by the boys? OR was someone setting a trap to capture Pokémon illegally?

"Knowing that Team Rocket's still chasing me and Pikachu, I wouldn't ignore the possibility that they're lurking nearby to trap us," Ash figured.

("They're always persistent,") the mouse agreed. Paul chose to rub salt on Ash's wounded protection.

"Then perhaps you should get your Pikachu back in his ball," Paul ordered. Ash got offended.

"You know I can't get Pikachu in it's ball," Ash argued. "Dex says so." He showed off his hand-held device and hit a few keys.

"There are cases where Pokémon will refuse to enter their Pokéball, citing claustrophobia and curiosity," it computed with a female voice. Ash closed it up and put it in his green backpack.

"I don't need the Dex to tell me how to raise a Pokémon," Paul snarled as he chucked the shovel to the ground. The shovel pierced the dirt and snapped the cut plywood. Paul was blinded by unnecessary backtalk. The ground collapsed and all of the boys fell into the pit which was pretty deep. To the three coming out of the bushes, their trap was a success despite the wait and the errors. Their gleeful triumph painted their faces.

"That was picture perfect!" Jessie cheered.

"Yeah, now we can our hands on Pikachu!" Meowth mewed. It's only then that James spotted something terribly wrong.

"Jessie, Meowth?" he spoke up. "They're gone!" Gone? Jessie and Meowth stopped their moment to look. The hole they dug looked bottomless, like they dug deeper than they should have. The boys fell pretty deep. Quickly, the other two determined a suspect in this debacle.

"Alright, James," she named. "You go down there and retrieve Pikachu."

"Me? You told me to keep digging after I said it was deep!"

"I wanted it deep so that the twerp couldn't get out! Besides, who's the one who liked the screen for the trap?" While they debate, the boys were found elsewhere. Paul was stirring after what seemed to be a long fall in which the skies were dismal and gray unlike the clear, blue air where they were before. The first thing he saw, he'd wish he remained unconscious. Gary stood over him with a hand out, trying to help Paul up. That scowl and him swatting Gary's hand away told Gary that Paul was just fine. He rose to his feet, much to Gary's displeasure.

"You're welcome," he groaned. Paul turned to see Ash and Pikachu by a hole in the bark of a dead tree. Something about that tree intrigued him to scope out the hole.

"What's bugging you about that hole?" he asked. Ash stood up, still glaring at the hole.

"No doubt we fell outta this hole," he started. "Team Rocket's dirty work at it's worst." He and Pikachu were the targets and Gary and Paul were the unfortunate parties.

"So where exactly are we?" Gary wondered. "I doubt this is part of Sinnoh." What was your first clue? "The air here is foul." Okay, your second clue.

"I'll say. Everything around here is polluted and decaying." Yeah, the land was dilapidated beyond recognition. "I hope Dawn and Brock will be fine without me for awhile." A couple of good friends?

"They're not in reach," Paul reminded Ash. "It's about time you realize that your friends won't be there to help you every time." Harsh. Ash could go after Paul for that remark but something stopped him: his inner strength to hold back.

"It's not worth it." He began to walk off, leaving the others behind. Pikachu wasn't sitting back.

("Wait for me, Ash!") Pikachu squeaked as he dashed to his partner. Before he could remount Ash, he tripped. He fell and hit the dirt hard. Mockingly trailing, Gary and Paul caught up with smugs on their grills.

"I hate to inform you, Ash," Gary teased. "But Fall isn't for another three months." Ash got to his knees and grasped his head. That was a pretty good spill. Paul looked at what...or who Ash tripped over. The person was on his stomach wearing a light brown coat and jeans. Paul scoped the top, thinking something was off.

"Who's this guy?" Ash wondered. He was going to get an answer and be introduced to a nightmare.

"I don't know but I doubt he can give us any answers," Paul murmured. "Help me turn him over. You'll see why." Ash didn't like where this was going but offered to help flip him. It's only then when the two feuding rivals spun him around that they realized...he was headless! There was no head to the man. He was dead. Ash, Gary and Pikachu were immediately fearful. Paul...not so much.

("Oh my god!") Pikachu screeched. Now Gary realized that he should have taken Ash's advice of heading back to Pallet Town, just not the reasons he had in mind.

"Ash, I think I should have gone back," he understood. Ash wasn't sure about the confession of not listening. If Team Rocket's trap had not worked, they would've ended up here.

"No, you can blame Team Rocket on that error," he pointed the finger if they were present. So who did they discover? And what did Team Rocket put the group into?

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><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	2. El Pueblo de los Muertos

_Chapter 2: El Pueblo de los Muertos_

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><p>For Ash, Paul, Gary and Pikachu, discovering a headless body scared the group. "Team Rocket opens the floodgates by dropping all of us into a trap which was deeper than anticipated and we wind up finding a dead body upon entry," Gary summarized, which made the narrator's job easy. Ash's eyes spotted something silver. He removed it to see dog tags and without a head, it was easy to disrobe the necklace. He read the tags.<p>

LEON S. KENNEDY  
>RACCOON CITY, USA<br>US SPECIAL FORCES  
>D.O.B. 929/77  
>BLOOD TYPE: A<p>

"Leon Kennedy," he repeated the tag. Gary doused a finger into a pool of blood which looked fresh.

"His head was removed not long ago," he suspected. "I've had sometime after Pokémon Training when I studied on criminal affairs and Leon here is still going in Rigor Mortis." Rigor Mortis?

"What's that, a Pokémon ability?" Not even close, Ash.

"Dingbat. Rigor Mortis starts setting when someone dies. Basically, the body stiffens due to lack of movement from the body. Soon enough, moving the limbs will be almost impossible." No doubt it won't be long until the body's stiff as a board. Ash continued to dig around his body, finding a razor sharp knife that was bigger than the handle and the blade had the look to sever limbs. Rustling through, he pulled out a 9mm handgun by the barrel. He put the knife and the gun down. He also pulled out ammo for the handgun. Lastly, he pulled out a large green wireless phone.

"Must be how he maintains contact with Raccoon City." He'd soon answer it. The phone rang. Startled, Ash wasn't sure about how to respond. He showed the phone to Paul but he shook his head. Maybe Gary...maybe not from his shake as well.

"Just answer it!" Paul grunted. Frustrated, Ash finally answered it.

"Hello?" A pause. A wrong number?

"Where's Leon?" a female voice asked. "Why do you have his phone?" Ash decided to respond, much to what horror would come on the other side of the line.

"He's dead. Head's been removed from the shoulders." The sudden gasp told Ash this was news this woman dreaded.

"No! Not him! Not Leon!" There had to be so many thoughts running through her head right now that she began to cry in pain and sadness. Gary was wondering what's going on with the phone call. Ash waived him off, citing major repercussions. "STARS won't be the same without Leon or Jill around. How long ago?"

"Not long. Found after we had a misplacement." Paul rifled through Leon only to pull out a photo.

"Ash, take a look at this," he suggested while handing the photo to Ash. It was a picture of a blond teenage girl wearing a green tiara, not a crown-like but like something to keep her hair in place, and an orange sleeveless sweater.

"Who's this?" The woman calmed when hearing Ash.

"Who's what?"

"This photo of a blond girl here." That mentioning of a photo prompted the woman to toughen up.

"Okay, I'll tell you everything but only if you find her." Ash had Pikachu but also Gary and Paul and Paul would be a hindrance if something went wrong. Ash was going to gamble with Paul being a teammate.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good. The US Secret Service hired Leon for the rescue of Ashley Graham, daughter of the President of the United States of America." High-profile. "I'm Ingrid Hunnigan, the only link to Leon in Spain. Who are you and do you have teammates?"

"Ash Ketchum. I have two rivals with me but seeing Leon, we may put our differences aside to rescue the president's daughter." Hearing the title, Gary and Paul realized there was more to this murder mystery than they were led on.

"Ash, be careful. I'll call you if I find anything." Disconnected, Ash shoved the phone in his pocket. The other boys wondered about the exchange between Ash and Ingrid.

"What's up?" Gary asked. Ash looked to the sky, knowing that Team Rocket was responsible for sending them on this trip...but had a second opinion believing that the trap was a blessing and not just because he thought Team Rocket would be too chicken when they find Leon's headless body.

"We've fallen into a rescue mission," he assumed. "Turns out that photo's the daughter of a president. She's here in this countryside and whatever happened to her, Leon was sent." They had a mission. How would they perform with hatred and rivalry on each? Ash and Gary were rivals back then but that seemed patched up. Ash and Paul couldn't see eye-to-eye and Gary and Paul have started badgering each other. If these three flared their emotions, whoever killed Leon may lay back and watch these three rip each other to shreds. "I know you two won't agree with me but...we're gonna need to work together." Three boys who disliked one another forced to unite to rescue the president's girl? Pikachu didn't like where this was going.

("No way this will work,") he theorized. Gary stood to greet the suggestion.

"Ash, you can't do anything by yourself if your life depended on it," he mocked. "So why not! I need a real life mystery for once." Paul snorted and turned his head away.

"You're easily pleased," he spat. "I'd rather steer away from conflict like this." He returned to the tree in an effort to climb back up, something Ash believed was pointless.

"Team Rocket could have sealed the hole already," he thought. Paul ignored the subject and began to climb the hollowed dead tree...only to appear from the top of it. Now something didn't make sense. Didn't Ash say that the tree was where they appeared from? Perhaps they entered from higher point. "Or that could be the reason." Paul had little choice. It was either stay for everything to pass or tag with Ash and Gary? Either way, all he expressed was chagrin.

"Fine, but don't get in my way." With the boys now formed in a pact, they headed into the countryside. A few minutes into their stroll, they spotted a white wolf with a leg in a bear trap. The snared leg was bleeding profusely. Gary and Pikachu ran over to take care of the wolf which frantically flailed to free itself.

"Hey, hey, take it easy," he tried to ease the creature. This wasn't a Pokémon but Gary wanted to help it. The wolf didn't listen and still struggled. Reaching in, he pulled a rod from the toothy trap. The trap fell to pieces and freed the wolf. The wolf was glad to get out of there but its leg was badly gashed. Gary pulled out some first aid and sprayed the leg with...well, it's not water. "A little Super Potion..." He wrapped the leg with medical tape and. "There you go!" The wolf was able to move its leg without difficulty and pounced to lick Gary. How's the tongue bath? Must be it's way of saying thanks. "You're welcome!" The wolf fled, hoping not to run into any more traps. Ash looked around when he saw a house with the chimney billowing smoke. Someone was inside.

"Let's check that house out," he suggested. They had no other leads. Agreeing, they entered the unlocked house. Entering, they viewed a man throwing in wood to a fireplace. His skin seemed discolored but the clothing would depict him as some sort of farmer. Perhaps asking him would help find Leon's killer and the whereabouts of Ashley. "Excuse me!" The man turned around, even his eyes and teeth looked abnormal, even for someone who was homeless. He needs to see a doctor. "Do you know anything about this girl in the photo?" The man had one look.

"_Nunca la he visto!" _he snapped. _"Ahora, sal de haí!" _He spoke Spanish, something Ash picked up quickly.

"Just a simple no would be nice." Gary and Paul wondered about that hostility.

"You think Leon came to him and asked before losing his head?" Gary assumed. Ash wasn't certain but Gary may have a point there. Unbeknown to the boys, the man had grabbed a hatchet and crept to the youngsters.

"I wouldn't look pass that possibility. Who knows how much Leon investigated before was killed." It was immediate but there won't be answers from Leon. Suddenly, Ash sensed a vibe. He saw the hatchet raised. He dove and tackled the others out of the swing. On the ground, the boys saw the hatchet-wielding man swaying closer. He had to be stopped before that hatchet made contact. Springing up, Ash fired a massive right hook. KAPOW! Right to the chin. The punch sent the man crashing into a shovel which the blade was out. SHING! The shovel sliced through his neck and he was bleeding...yellow? Usually, they bleed red. Viewing this, something was terribly wrong as the man bled out.

"Nice punch," Paul snorted. "Now we won't get any answers!"

"Don't be so sure, Paul. That's not what normally comes out when you get a cut, right?" That's not a cut, Ash. You severed something in that neck which bled out.

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist to tell you blood isn't putrid yellow," Gary summarized. Ash reached down to scoop a sample of the yellow blood, something Gary didn't want to risk health. "Wait, Ash! Don't touch it!" Hearing his old rival warning him, Ash pulled back. "If this guy has this strange disease, it's best that we don't make contact with anyone." Ash gazed at the fist that ended that man. It appeared to be fine. "Your punch hit all cloth so you should be fine. By the way, I didn't know you can fight." He didn't? They were rivals, how could he not know?

"We live in a world where humans fighting humans is frowned upon by police," Paul explained. "Though if you ask me, I think that was a hard right uppercut from boxing." Ash scratched his head, a sign that he's been found out.

"I guess my secret's out," he confessed. "I did learn boxing as well as some Spanish." Nice to have a few extra traits in case. Ash got serious. "Hey, Ashley can't rescue herself. Let's go!" The boys dashed out and left the...was he dissolving? Ew! The gang followed a trail heading toward a village. They were unaware of the big trap over some cliffs ahead. Meantime, they spotted more bear traps. Whoever lived here hunted big time. "Gary, you're following Prof. Oak's path. Do you know how much pressure it takes to trigger these traps?" Gary pondered, thinking back to the wolf.

"Well, judging by the injury from that wolf, I'd estimate about 25 pounds per square inch," he guessed. "It's not a lot of pressure so a bad step's gonna be painful." Just the teeth on the trap were painful. To Ash, this was a perfect chance to do some Pokémon Training.

"Let's see if we can do a little disarming with a little Draco Meteor. Gible, I choose you!" Ash threw a red/white ball which opened. Out popped a gray baby shark with tiny arms and legs. It's jaw was wider than Ash's. "Okay, Gible. Let's see if we can't get that Draco Meteor to work. And just to add to the practice..." He reached back to retrieve another Pokémon when Gible decided to take a swim in the dirt. No, really. With his fin sticking from the floor and ignoring Ash's command... "Wait! Gible!" Gible smashed into each bear trap, triggering everyone it hit. Ash sighed after this ignorant display.

"Seems as though you need more work," Paul huffed at Ash's chagrin. "Your Gible's as bad at listening to you as your belief that trust can win battles." Ash wanted to smack Paul on that remark but saw Gible doing a little dining. His meal: the bear traps. Normally, people would be satisfied with fruits, meats, breads...not steel.

"Well, I can't accuse you for not providing enough fiber to your Gible," Gary joked. Already, this temporary truce was showing its kinks. At least Gible provided safe clearance. Pacing on, the group followed a path, unaware of a hazard that could pancake the group. Gible was digging through when a rumble stopped it. An earthquake? Pikachu felt the quick jolt and turned to see a giant boulder barreling towards the boys. Quickly, Paul prepped a ball.

"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" His ball opened with a giant yellow being which had black lightning bolts around the stomach. "Brick Break!" Electabuzz readied a left arm to smash when Gible popped out, giving Ash an idea.

"Gible, Rock Smash!" he ordered. Gible had it's tiny arms glowing too. Electabuzz chopped the rolling boulder and was quickly followed by the Rock Smash. The Rock Smash destroyed the boulder and two chucked hurdled through the air. SPLAT! Two geysers of putrid yellow were a tall tale sign that whoever tried to flatten the boys were gone themselves instead.

"So they were the ones responsible for the boulder," Gary believed. To Ash, something wasn't adding up. Still, they had no evidence to theorize. All they could do was press on. Soon enough, they spotted a village and it was thriving...at least to the naked eye. Regardless, the boys crouched by a couple of trees. The phone on Ash began to vibrate. Ingrid was calling and Ash answered it.

"Talk to me," he started.

"What's your location?" Ingrid asked.

"A village not far from Leon's body. Dealt with a few hostiles."

"Be careful out there. Keep your eyes out for the target." That's when Ash remembered the yellow blood.

"By the way, do you know why these people bleed yellow blood instead of red?" Ingrid hesitated to answer for a second.

"They bleed yellow?"

"Yeah. We view it as kinda odd."

"Well...I can't give you any proper answers at this point. What you can do is keep you and your team safe."

"I'll make sure. Update me if you got something new." Disconnecting, all Ash can do was make sure he, Gary, Paul and their Pokémon were okay. They watched as people were harvesting grain, chopping wood, etc. Gary grabbed binoculars, possibly from Leon, and viewed something...or someone on a hook. It was a man in a blue uniform with the hook on a burning stake. The hook was embedded through his chest. "We need to get through these guys if we want to find the daughter." Easier said than done.

"I don't necessarily need to listen to orders," Paul hissed as he stood to confront the villagers...only to have Gary yank him back down.

"You idiot!" he snapped. "These guys have all the weaponry to fend off rouges. You want to endanger your Pokémon?" Paul shoved Gary's arm aside in displeasure.

"What happens, happens. I don't care if they're armed with handguns, they'll let us find this missing kid." Gary knew Paul was ignoring a point.

"Recklessness is the master of disaster. We can't afford mistakes and jeopardize any chance for safe travel." Neither were aware that Ash and Pikachu had skipped out on the other two. They were pretty annoyed by the argument that steamed betwixt them.

"That recklessness got us here in the first place!"

"_Your _recklessness opened the hole!" Frustrated, Gary turned to...no one. "Ash?" This irritated Gary more. First his argument with Gary and now Ash ditching the scene altogether.

"Figures. The moment you turn your back to him, he goes on his adventures." Ash and Pikachu climbed a roof and entered through a window absent of glass. Inside, a cache of colored grenades and a double barrel shotgun were in a cabinet. Cautiously, Ash opened the cabinet and emptied it of the red, blue and green explosive canisters. Each had writing on every grenade: green had "FRAGMENTACIÓN," blue had "FLASH" and red had "FUEGO." While stuffing his pockets and backpack, his actions would not go unattended.

"_Ladrón!"_one male villager roared while wielding a pitchfork. _"Usted no va a escapar!"_ Ash watched the hostile villager sloth closer.

"You're right, I'm not," he sneered. "Not without the girl." The villager rose his pitchfork over his head. Opening! Ash whipped out the shotgun and pulled the trigger with one hand. BANG! The gunshot echoed throughout the village, including attracting Gary and Paul's attention.

"Idiot~!" Gary grumbled. "Guess we gotta help him." Paul wanted to stay back but something confounded him to say help Ash.

"Reggie, why do you want me and Ash to battle in the Sinnoh Tournament?" he growled quietly. They pulled out Leon's weapons and moved in. Ash bobbed and weaved through the villagers who tried to kill him and Pikachu. Regrouped, Ash, Gary and Paul managed to fend anyone who bled yellow and slashed every item from a hatchet to a chainsaw. Ash threw one of the red grenades which exploded in a wave of flames, scorching all. There were so much vomiting yellow blood and many dead bodies scattered. Yet they pressed on.

"These guys make Team Rocket pretty patient!" Ash huffed in exhaustion. "They keep coming!" The boys were surrounded. Only a miracle could save them. DONG! DONG! Church bells? All that were alive heard the bells but the villagers began to move toward the church bells. 15 minutes of bloodshed ending with bells from some place of worship. All the boys could do was sigh in relief.

"Ash, what were you thinking?" Gary groaned. "We could have been just fine if you'd stayed with us." Ash wasn't too concerned with why he went out to scope the village.

"I'd thought if I'd get in and get out with some ammo, we'd be locked and loaded for what we needed to face." Well, we can't say he wasn't thinking about what was to come. Paul wasn't impressed by an iota. "At least for now, we have the luxury to finish harvesting anything for the road ahead." The boys were ready to split again when something alerted Pikachu, his ears perking up. Ash knew something was on his mouse's mind. "Pikachu, what is it?"

("I hear banging!") Pikachu squeaked as he hopped from Ash's head. ("I'm hearing it from over here!") The boys looked at each before following the Electric Mouse Pokémon into a house, then into a room. There was a drawer that was moving. Was there one in waiting?

"Proceed with caution," Gary warned. Ash and Paul positioned themselves in front of the drawer with Ash's hand on the door. Paul cocked Leon's piece and held three fingers up. Countdown... Two fingers... One finger... Point! Ash ripped the door from the hinges and a grown brunette male in some styling clothes fell out. His arms and legs were tied and his mouth was gagged with tape. Ash realized this wasn't one of the villagers.

"He's human!" he advised. The man struggled to break free. "Hold still!" Paul tore the tape from the man's mouth. He felt the tear and some blood...red blood...on his lips. He gasped a breath.

"A little rough, eh?" he huffed with a Spanish accent. Paul put Leon's gun away and called for the knife. Gary's toss was precise and Paul snagged it by the handle. Ash helped the man up to his seat as Paul worked on the ropes binding him. "So, neither of you are them outside?" He might have been referring to the villagers.

"We'd rather bleed crimson than vomit," Paul spat. Just red than yellow would be just fine. Once freed, the man rubbed his arms to make sure he wasn't harmed anymore than just some minor rope burns.

"I doubt that you have it considering your ages but in case...you got a smoke?" He's willing to light a cigarette to complete his freedom. Unfortunately, none of them had a smoke to offer. Pikachu's ears perked up again and went to hiding. The males turned to the door where two male villagers appeared, followed by a bald giant in a heavy trench coat and sporting a frizzy beard. The man cringed at the giant's arrival. "Perfect. The Big Cheese." The leader? The one who kidnapped Ashley? No wonder Pikachu chose to cower. Paul wasn't one to fear away.

"Perhaps with your defeat, you can tell us where the president's girl's being kept!" Paul wanted to end the adventure here and now. "Aggron, standby for battle!" The new ball opened and out popped a large gray raptor with steel plates and horns on its head. "Metal Claw!" Aggron raced in but the Big Cheese caught the arm and flung it right back at Paul. He couldn't react in time and was blasted off his feet. His lights were out. Seeing the knocked out rival, Ash and Gary realized they had no chance against the Big Cheese and quickly surrendered. The giant was side-by-side with Ash and Gary.

"_No voy a matarte," _he murmured. _"En su lugar, serán sujetos de prueba decente." _With chops to the back of the necks, Ash and Gary fell unconscious. The rivals were now at the mercy of the Big Cheese. What could their fates be?

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><p>CONTINUÁ...<p> 


	3. Los Illuminados: Iluminar La Oscuridad

_Chapter 3: Los Illuminados: Iluminar La Oscuridad_

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><p>"Feeble humans," a grown man scoffed as a gun-style needle inched toward Ash's neck. The Big Cheese knocked Ash and his rivals unconscious. "Let us offer you our power." The needle entered Ash's neck while a tiny white marble floated in an eerie violet liquid. "Soon, you'll become use to this...intoxicating sensation." A pull of the trigger and the marble shot down. Ash was injected with something as the grown man laughed. Before long, Ash snapped awake. Looking around, he found himself in a nearly empty basement. Across the room was Gary and Paul, also unconscious but tied together. His concern prompted him to get to- Uh, not quite. Looking down, he found himself in knots...and to another grown man back-to-back. He knew he had to get free. Too bad the other guy was lights out as well. Feebly, Ash slammed his head to the man's back. That first really hit a nerve because he lofted a paining groan.<p>

"_Buenos días!" _he shot on awake. As soon as he cricked a few loose parts... "Nothing good can happen. Crawl out of one hole, find yourself in another." Perhaps "out of the frying pan and into a fire" was a little too good for this issue of trouble.

"You have any idea what's with these villagers?" Ash began questioning. The man seemed rather passive, almost scoffing Ash's grilling and he wasn't cooking brats and burgers.

"_Americano,si?" _Ash would deny he's American.

"I don't look American, do I?" The man chuckled, humored with Ash's seriousness.

"You never know. Anyone can claim they came from that so-called 'Melting Pot,' ergo the US of A. Name's Luis." Ash dug into his pocket and flicked Ashley's picture out.

"I'm Ash. Gary, Paul and I were misplaced and now we're searching for her." Luis studied the photo for a second.

"Lemme guess...she's the president's daughter, no?" Good guess. Even Ash had to shoot a grin.

"That's some guess. Anything you're hiding?" Luis looked up, wanting to poke some fun.

"Psychic powers..." Really? Ash was ready to jump from his seat on notice. "Nah! Just kidding, amigo! Actually, I heard the villagers talking about an famous female eastern American in the big church. I originally believed Brittney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Roseanne...but they said east which made me think of DC. Of course, I should have put my detective hat on instead of thinking of something in the box. I was a cop in Madrid." Why was he here? All of a sudden, dragging metal alerted the two to the entrance of the room. It also woke the other two and realizing they were bound to each.

"What the-" Gary screeched as he and Paul struggled to free themselves. "Get off my back!" Neither was comfortable, at the least.

"Me?" Paul growled. "YOU get off!" A villager dragged an ax to the sight and eyed Ash and Luis when Ash saw a shadow flash by. Now or never. Ash decided to call now since that flash was guess who.

"Iron Tail!" he called. Pikachu jumped the opportunity and broke the ax on the wind-up with that glowing tail. Not feeling it, the villager hacked the two, only to find out the head was dislodged. He missed everything. He turned to see Pikachu who fired a massive stream of electricity to neutralize the villager cold. Luis was impressed.

("Ash, are you okay?") it worryingly asked.

"I'm good, thanks to you. Now, can you use Iron Tail one more time to break us out?" Pikachu obliged and broke the chain holding all four.

"_Perfecto!"_ Luis praised. "I should mention that there's a secret passage that leads to the church. I'm gonna investigate some other parameters." Ash acknowledged Luis' position, a helpful trait of being a cop. Once Luis departed, the phone vibrated. Ingrid had info? Ash believed it as he answered.

"Talk to me, Ingrid."

"Ash, what happened?" she asked. "I thought I lost you, too." Apparently she's not worried about Ash's rivals as much.

"Sorry, I was in a bit of a bind and other than a stinging sensation in my neck, I think we're good." That's when he saw Gary and Paul rubbing their necks. This corrected Ash. "Excuse me. We all have a stinging sensation."

"You think?" Paul snorted. "It felt like something jabbed me right there." This astounded Gary. Why? Was this the first time he's seen Paul hurt?

"I doubt this is a coincidence," he pointed out. "If all three of us were stung in the neck, I think we were given some sort of injection." Overhearing the three talk about their experience, Ingrid suspected they had some sort of drug inserted into their systems.

"Are you all alright?" she questioned. "Are you suffering any effects from whatever they supplied?"

"Not at the moment, no. Somehow, I don't think this drug will remain dormant and if anything, Ash will report and see if there's a solution."

"I'm sure he will. I don't know about how you guys are looking since I'm over here in DC but keep an eye for any sudden changes. I don't wanna lose kids like this." That's when Ash remembered about Luis.

"By the way, there was a civilian we found tied up as well," he reported.

"Condition?"

"Fine, he escaped but did tell me about a church that's holding Ashley. And some sort of passageway to that church."

"Be careful." Disconnected, Ash returned the phone to his pocket. Not another word amongst the trio, they exited the basement and shelter...only to find themselves in a village in a canyon. Bridges were connecting houses over what seemed to be bottomless drops to an abyss. Cautiously, they edged onto the unstable terrain...with more villagers on the attack. Paul wasted little time releasing a Pokémon.

"Honchkrow, stand by for battle!" he summoned as a large black crow in a fedora appeared. "Use Haze!" Honchkrow spat a thick toxic cloud onto the villagers covered, Gary decided to make a move on his own.

"Blastoise, Hydro Pump!" he called out as he released a giant blue turtle with cannons protruding out of it's shell. The turtle fired twin blasts of water, striking the choking villagers into the cavernous bed below. Villagers continued to appear. Ash and Pikachu had gone ahead to see if maybe he could clear a path while he had the shotgun. The boys plowed through the villagers, minding little about the aches in their necks. Reaching the other side, they found their path blocked by a steel gate. However, Ash didn't see it that way and in two bounds, hurdled over the gate. "Anything over there?" Something was like a long rope. Ash flung it over to help his rivals above this obstacle. Turned out that the gate blocked a pathway out of the canyon. Little trouble reaching the other side, they found a house.

"Guess that's not it," Ash figured. Paul groaned at how obvious Ash was at being dense.

"What was your first clue?" he snorted. The three entered the house and into a room with some items like a key which had an "X" on the handle.

"What's with the design? They're practically everywhere." Obvious as well but with little answer, Gary sympathized with his Pallet Town neighbor.

"I've noticed that as well. Whoever is running the show here has to have some affection with this cross," he noted. That "X" was a cross? "Hey, see if our US contact has any information on religions which coincide with this cross." Gary wanted Ash to call Ingrid to see about links between that cross and Ashley's kidnapping.

"Okay." As Ash reached for the phone, he noticed Paul by a steel door. Sensing the oblivious one staring, Paul chose to answer an unspoken question.

"I'm hearing voices so I'm gonna check on it," he explained. Ash didn't want no stone unturned.

"Be careful, Paul." Paul snorted Ash's worry and headed out the door. Ash dialed Ingrid. "Ingrid, you there?" Ingrid was on the phone back in DC.

"Ash, good timing. Anyone suffering effects from whatever drug you were injected with?"

"No, but that's not why I buzzed."

"Right, and you called for info."

"Gary suspects that a religion may have a link with Ashley's disappearance."

"I thought that's why you called. Your friend may be onto something. It seems as thought a religious cult group may be the topic. They call themselves the Los Illumiados."

"Spanish for 'The Enlighten.' Their cult leader?"

"No information yet but we may be on hand to know soon enough." Before Ash wished farewell to Ingrid, a ruffled Paul scurried back in. "What was that?" The door slammed shut with the bewildered rivals gawking right at the mean one.

"Paul, you alright?" Disheveled, Paul gazed back at the entrance.

"Big Cheese, again," he growled. "Nearly choked me out." Big Cheese couldn't leave Paul alone. "He said something about having the same blood as them. Not sure if that's related to the injection or not." Ash and Gary wondered if the injection altered their blood to coincide with the villagers. Ingrid was urged to learn more.

"Did the Big Cheese say anything else?" she asked. This wasn't a request from Ash or Gary, two guys who he'd have disputes about. It was from a woman.

"It was brief but he said that I have the same blood but I'm still regarded as an outsider. He also warned me about giving the villagers the wrong look that consequences would commence." A threat. The boys knew that they needed to stay on their toes if they wanted to survive.

"Same blood, huh? Interesting. I don't know if it's related but nevertheless, be careful you three." Despite being who knows how far away from the boys, Ingrid was vehemently worried about them. Now, they disconnected. Now all three stepped through the steel door, Pikachu riding Ash's shoulder like always. They only got a few steps when Big Cheese attacked, knocking down Ash and Paul and tackling Gary into another room. He held the Oak down with a foot pressed toward his chest. Before the Big Cheese made melted cheese out of Gary, gunshots boomed and hit the giant in the shoulder. Barely feeling it, he turned to a shattered window where a red dress on a female was viewed. The Big Cheese raced after the dress and lunged through the glass. Gary got up as Ash entered to check on him.

"You alright?" he asked with the same concern painted on Pikachu's face.

"Yeah," he huffed, catching his breath and wits. "Someone saved me."Ash was thankful for whoever rescued his first rival. Soon as Gary recovered, the three moved on down the road. They stumbled across another village where they had some difficulty crossing. Ash used the key they found in the house and entered. Dormant. The reason would soon be clear.

"Gary, Paul, over here!" Ash found a door on the floor. That had to be where the passageway had been. Paul opened it and uncovered a cavernous tunnel. The three leaped down and toured through it. The ceiling was glistening despite little light.

"Fascinating. There are jewels wedged up there." Not taking a second to think, Ash and Pikachu decided to invest in the jewelery. Ash tossed his Pokémon to the ceiling where Iron Tail dug the gems out. They were red egg-shaped diamonds. Paul acted disgusted with Ash's sudden greed.

"Really?" he scowled. "What are you gonna do with those? Make a necklace with 'PATHETIC' printed on it?" Like before, harsh.

"Actually, I was thinking about using these babies as projectiles," he answered. That's even more pathetic.

"I have a better idea!" a new voice echoed. Hearing the voice, the three raced to find a man heavily dressed in a cloak. "Why not trade me those gems for some serious firepower." He unveiled his hooded cloak which carried a cache of weapons. Armed to the teeth was nothing, he was armed to the hairline. One weapon tickled Paul's fancy: a machine gun. After their trades, the group ventured through the rest of the tunnel and out the back. Well, looky there! Was that the church they needed to find? Cautiously, the three traversed through the cemetery and fought off the villagers. They got to the front door of the church...but it's locked.

"This bites," Ash huffed. "Locked." Gary stepped up and noticed a spiral on the door.

"I'm not a locksmith but I think we need a key that could fit in there," he studied. "Something with spirals." Paul rose his hand with a suggestion.

"Let's head down that bridge," he pointed out to a new path adjacent to the church. No other option available, the three pressed onto the path, blocked by villagers. A few well placed shots by Paul's new toy and the three were able to cross the mountainside path with a few well placed shots. "Gotta love automatic!" They continued through a few extra doors and out to a dock with a motorboat idling. In the boat were plenty of spears. Unfortunately, not the same Spears Luis pondered.

"What would someone be doing with all those spears?" Ash questioned. It's one neither of the boys would answer.

"Well, that boat's only capable of carrying a single passenger," Gary observed. "One of us has to go out there and see if the key's in the drink." Who to choose?

"Send him," Paul suggested Ash. "If he isn't as pathetic as he looks, he could fish whatever lurks under the lake." Ash sighed in displeasure. Must they argue amongst each other when lives are at stake?

"Why must you throw Ash under the bus constantly? What has he ever done to you?" Paul jerked his body from Gary's sight.

"That's none of your business."

"We're in this together! Or did the fall knock the memory of how we got here because of your hotheadedness?" That taunt failed to churn Paul around.

"Like I said, it's none of your business." The cold exchanges mounted but Gary was still vying for information about Paul's deplorable attitude.

"Really? Perhaps you're afraid of how much Ash had accomplished more than you!" Did we really need to resort to teasing. Paul didn't think so and pointed his machine gun at Gary's chest.

"Keep in mind that I have the firepower to take anyone down, even you." Fed up with the argument, Ash circled around Paul and entered the spear-loaded boat, started the motor and with Pikachu, headed into the middle of the lake, much to Gary's chagrin.

"Ash, must you always give in to peer pressure?" Peer pressure or you two bickering. In the middle, Ash searched the open water for some clue. That's when something leaped out and boy was it huge! A giant lizard with a mouth bigger than it's width swam around the motorboat.

"What...is that?" The giant lizard had rope sticking out of it's trap...rope attached to the boat. How'd that happen. Ash was going for a ride and he held on tight. In a rapid pull, Ash and Pikachu rode the beast going full force yanking the boat. Ash had to do something.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he commanded. Pikachu fired his Thunderbolt, electrocuting the lizard. Pikachu shocked the amphibious creature for as long as he could before the rope broke. The boat slowed greatly to a stop but the lake monster was showing wear. It was swimming much slower. Ash throttled the motor as the lizard passed them by no more than a foot. That's when Ash and Pikachu saw a disfiguring sight: dozens of tendrils clouding what was in his esophagus. Ash stopped the boat and picked a roped spear. "Where is it?" The beast lurked underwater for a long time. That's when Pikachu heard ripples from behind.

("It's behind us!") it squeaked. Turning, Ash saw the ripples. That beast was going to pop up real soon while Ash held the spear with the tip facing the other way.

"Doesn't that idiot know he won't snag that beast if he uses the flat side to spear it?" Paul commentated the questionable tactic. Gary smirked. Did he know something Paul didn't?

"I think he knows what he's doing," he sneered. The beast popped up and charging right at Ash.

'Open your mouth!' he tried to mind-talk the beast. Somehow, the beast obeyed and the jaws spread wide. The moment for Ash. "Here we go!" Ash spun around and fired the spear with quite a bit of spin itself. He turned the spear into a drill. It was a bulls-eye because the spear entered it's mouth, traveled through the body and out the tail. That was no spear, that was a skewer through the entire body. The beast let out one final roar as it began to sink. Suddenly, Pikachu spotted a pile of rope tied to the end of the boat and used Iron Tail to cut it. The beast sank straight down, long gone. Gary was impressed with the teamwork common between Ash and Pikachu.

"Is there nothing those two can't do together?" He turned to Paul...who's down. "Paul!" He started to get to Paul's side when suddenly he felt a concussive force cripple him "Ugh!" He coughed on his hand...and found blood. That wasn't good. He felt another ripple of force get him and he fell unconscious. Ash and Pikachu reached the shore, finding his rivals sprawled out. This wasn't good to see.

"Gary! Paul!"

("Are you alright?") Pikachu gasped in concern. As Ash tried to shake Gary awake, he felt the same ripple of force and coughed out some of his blood. He was about to fall unconscious as well.

"Pikachu, get Blastoise...from Gary! Tell it...to get us inside!" A final note as Ash fell limp as well. Something must have disabled the rivals. With these three unable to act, what will happen to Ashley?

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><p>Continuará ...<p> 


	4. El Rascate de la Primera Hija

_Chapter 4: El Rascate de la Primera Hija_

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><p>What in the world hit the rivals that knocked them on their stomachs? It was something Ash had to wonder as he came around inside the shack. Pikachu and Gary's Blastoise watching over them and Paul as they tried to recover from whatever caused them to keel over and faint. Groggy moans rippled the air as Ash rose to all fours. ("Ash, you good?") Pikachu asked. Ash's Pokémon was worried about him. He did spear a giant seaworthy lizard to death and it probably was too much of a sight for the young trainer to watch.<p>

"I'm fine," he groaned. "I just... need to get moving to reach Ash-" His mouth stopped when a rumble of pain and agony began to rip inside Ash. He yelped and shouted, surprisingly not awakening the others. Ash's eyes shifted from the chocolate brown to crimson red. Something inside was altering his insides. Pikachu had an idea which would make Ash hate him but there didn't seem like any other option would work.

("Forgive me, but I don't have any choice.") Pikachu blasted Ash with his Thunderbolt. The massive voltage traversed all over Ash's body in order to stop his convulsing. Pikachu held onto the Thunderbolt for a good minute. During which, Ash's voice as he screamed in discomfort began to change, the pitch sounding lighter. Pikachu relaxed his attack to which a smoking raven-haired youngster fell onto his hands already on his knees. Ash now had two items to recover from: that convulsion which flattened him and his rivals and Pikachu's Thunderbolt. It was quick. Ash stopped his labored breathing and realized his was himself moving all extremities normally. It was as if anything that happened before the rivals fell into the Team Rocket trap never happened.

"I'm okay." Not quite, Ash. It didn't click yet but Ash's voice...wasn't Ash's voice. "Wow! Thanks a lot, Pikachu!" Pikachu scratched it's ears as if any guilt from shocking Ash was nullified.

("I can't believe it-") Only now did the Electric Mouse Pokémon noticed that Ash's voice had changed. ("Ash, your voice!") Blastoise barely noticed as it stayed huddled over Gary.

"My voice?" Ash tickled his throat with his thumb, wondering what Pikachu meant. "What's wrong with my-" Now he noticed. Ash gasped at what happened with his voice box. "When did this come back? I haven't had this since I returned from the Hoenn Region!" Pikachu's Thunderbolt did a lot more than stop Ash's convulsion. Ash grinned, feeling wonderful about the vocal difference. "Maybe this voice will work out a lot better than what I have. I don't know how long I'll have it but I'll make good use of it." One look out the window warned Ash that the trek to rescuing Ashley Graham, the US President's baby girl, was going to be one big trudge: a thunderstorm rolled in. "Blastoise, keep an eye on the two while I'm gone."

("I will,") the Shellfish Pokémon promised as Ash packed Pikachu in his vest. Ash traveled away from the lake when the familiar vibration called to him: Ingrid. Ducking under a rocky umbrella, Ash answered.

"Ingrid, what's up?" Ingrid briefly hesitated to reply to Ash with his new voice.

"Who...is this?" she wondered. Ash realized that his new speech confused the US contact.

"It's still me. I don't know how but my voice has been altered."

"So you're still the same Ash that I answer to?"

"Yeah." Ingrid sighed in relief that Ash was okay. Why would she?

"I do apologize, it's been at least four hours since our last call. I tried to contact you to see if maybe you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what happened to all of us. We started to feel disoriented and then passed out. I think I was able to wake up sooner than Gary and Paul since I had adrenaline from fighting some big lizard." Before Ingrid could reply, a villager groaned with a shovel. He wasn't going to bury Ash, was he? He was also soaked to the bone from all the rain. Ash prepared the shotgun when the villager's head suddenly burst apart. Before Ash could wonder if a stray lightning bolt blew the head up, something ugly reared what was the head: a dirt brown worm with a handful of tentacles splashed from the villager's shoulders. That spooked Ash and Pikachu and even more shocking was that even though it was headless, it still continued to walk as if it was alive. "You might wanna take a look at this." Ash pointed the phone at the oncoming headless villager with the new accessory and took a picture. He then placed the phone near his side and turned to Pikachu. "Hey, Pikachu. Let's use the rain to our advantage and Thunderbolt it." Pikachu liked the idea as Ingrid fumbled with the new photo of what the heck that was.

"The hell..." Pikachu fired another Thunderbolt and zapped...whatever protruded from the villager's neck. The thing exploded and the villager finally fell and dissolved.

"Perfect, Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked in good notion as Ash was right back to Ingrid. "Anything?"

"Yeah, something. This is far worse than what happened in Raccoon City with the T-Virus."

"T-Virus? Was this something Leon was working on? His home was in Raccoon City." Ingrid wasn't sure but Ash seemed intrigued with this T-Virus.

"Several years ago, Leon Kennedy was just a new member of the Raccoon City Police Department when the outbreak of the T-Virus occurred. That T-Virus was once in possession of a pharmaceutical company, Umbrella Inc." The name made Ash scoff and want to joke.

"Umbrella, huh? 'Keeping you covered from the diseases of the world' must have been their marketing punchline."

"Actually, they went by a few but not quite what you thought up. I'm surprised you weren't hired as their spokesman. That was good. Anyway, the T-Virus outbreak killed thousands and Leon paired up with Claire Redfield who was searching for her brother, Chris, who was a member of STARS or Special Tactics and Rescue Squad. Anyway, after rescuing the remaining living, Raccoon City was destroyed, if only to minimize the damage from the outbreak. However, this is different."

"Yeah, I doubt it's a viral outbreak." It suddenly made Ash think. All three were injected. Could they have what that villager had shoot out of his body? "I don't think we were given a drug."

"I had a feeling you were getting that conclusion. I don't know what specifically that is but I think I know what to class it as. I believe you three were given a parasite." Ash shuttered. It wasn't a drug or a virus but a parasite that seemed to flow through the villagers and the rivals.

"Sounds like I should hurry and get Ashley." Without a comeback from Ingrid, Ash hung up and continued down the path. As the two raced through the muddy path by the rainwater, all Ash could be thinking about was reaching Ashley. They passed a couple of doors and nearly found themselves swimming in a river with the skies letting up. Wooden planks provided walkways and a waterfall captivated quite a scenery. That's when Ash spotted some construction equipment and claws holding crates. Some sort of cargo? Ash knew he needed to get across somehow...and knew the Pokémon to do it. "Buizel, I choose you!" A ball opened from Ash and out came an orange two-tailed weasel with a floatation ring around the neck. "Use Sonic Boom!" The weasel was startled with Ash's new voice. Pikachu stepped up to clarify what's wrong with their trainer.

("His voice was my fault,") it squeaked. ("It's still Ash.") Buizel got the message and focused its aim at the claws holding the crates. It swung its tails with such velocity, the whip created a ripple in the shape of a blade. That ripple hit and broke the claw, releasing the crate as it hit the water. There was a support beam downstream where the crate collided. Buizel did it again on an adjacent crate with similar results.

"Nice work, Buizel." Buizel pumped its tiny fist, knowing he could be relied on. Using the two floating crates, Ash and the Pokémon crossed over and in time too. The villagers came a chasing. Ash knew that they needed to use the crates to safely cross the river. Out came the shotgun but instead of the villagers, he aimed it at the near crate. One pull of the trigger with one booming sound and the crate was hole-y. Then he smirked at the villagers and rested the shotgun on his shoulder, taunting them to chase him. Something his Pokémon were not pleased to see.

("You know that can lead to bad things,") Buizel barked. Ash never wavered. He waited. One snarling villager hopped onto the undamaged crate safely. It still failed to deter Ash. Then, the male with an ax hopped on the shot box. The crate sank with him on top. The villager didn't react until he was neck-deep in the liquid. He tried to jump out but...that was a worse move than actually stepping on the harmed box in the first place. That villager had to have drowned about now. That would be why Ash acted so confidently with the situation. Could it be the voice he had? The villagers saw their sunken neighbor with puzzling thoughts as Ash strutted away from the infected crowd. That's when he saw a bent metal beam hanging by a crane.

"Here we go!" He hopped into the control panel and operated the crane to block the waterfall, revealing a cavern. "Wonder what's in there?" Hopping off, he and the Pokémon raced to the cave, only to be met with more villagers, some wielding torches. "Time we fight fire with fire." It wasn't a Pokémon but a fire grenade he tossed. BANG! WOOSH! The grenade engulfed the bridge and the villagers into a panicked frenzy in which they accidentally flamed their brethren. "Buizel, Aqua Jet, counter shield!" Buizel cocooned itself in a coat of water before the corkscrewing veil bashed into the villagers and sent them drinking. Not only were the villagers down the drain, the fires were snuffed as well. Ash and the Pokémon entered the cleared cave to find some sort of tablet. It had the same spirals as the door to the church. When Ash removed the tablet, the wall rose up and uncovered a tunnel.

("Where do you think this tunnel leads to?") Pikachu questioned. Ash smiled, believing the answer was promising.

"Only one way to find out." After recalling Buizel, the two raced ahead and into an underground dock with another idling boat, no spears in that one. Hopping on board, they found a door back outside...and into more pouring rain. "I thought it let up for good. Maybe we're the ones outrunning this storm?" Let's not get too puzzling. Pikachu in his coat again, Ash raced down the mountainous path and through a shallow creek. Finally, they ended up in a tiny area of huts fenced in. Why were there just a couple of houses? Better yet, why was this place closed in with fences?

"_Cierre las puertas!" _a villager called out. Gates on the way from and to were closed off. Metal doors creaked open where several villagers were pulling ropes, trying to yank something out. That something was a behemoth of a beast. The villagers yanked and yanked to extract the towering monster. Breaking loose from its grip, the giant went berserk.

"_Ejecutar!" _another villager screeched as he bolted, completely forgetting that the way out was sealed to prevent Ash from escaping. _"El Gigante está ejecutanto sueltos!"_ Trapped in, the villagers panicked while they were being kicked, stomped and swatted to oblivion. Soon enough, it was the behemoth and Ash...or so he thought. A howl alerted those alive to a mountain peak where...the wolf that Gary freed and treated.

"Isn't that the same wolf Gary took care of?" Ash asked. Just look at the leg. It was the same wolf. The wolf pounced off the hut and reached Ash's side. It's now three-on-one but still the advantage had to go with the giant. Yet for some reason, Ash continued to grin. What did he know that failed to say that he's up that creek and where was his paddle? Even a villager had to warn him about the oncoming doom.

"_Usted está atrapado!" _he advised. _"El Gigante te aplastará como un insecto!" _Regardless of the warning, Ash never flinched.

"Then tell me why I'm not afraid of it?" The villager was dumbstruck. Did this boy accept death? The deafening roar from the behemoth didn't budge Ash. Stone cold... The behemoth rose a foot to start running, a moment Ash needed with a Pokémon. "Torterra, I choose you!" Out of the ball came a giant green tortoise with spikes on one side of the body and a tree on the other. "Rock Climb!" Torterra double stomped the ground and caused a stone pillar to rise from the planted foot of the giant which flipped it over. Talk about an underhanded technique. The behemoth growled from the sudden floor manipulation. Ash was going to need a little more than a single Rock Climb. Enter help. A giant spinning shell bulldozed into the behemoth as it got on one knee. Returning to earth, the shell opened up and out came Gary's Blastoise. "Thanks, Blastoise." Blastoise winked, telling Ash everything was normal...in health at least.

"Ash!" Gary voiced as he and Paul leaped down from the pointy fence. The rivals reached Ash's side, though Ash decided to poke a little fun into the ordeal.

"You're late!" They were rivals so hardships came with the territory. "Had to use the wolf as my backup partner." The tease got Gary laughing a bit. Paul? Not even a lift of his lip.

"How did you avoid suffering a seizure like the rest of us?" Was that what they went through? Ash snickered, holding a secret.

"Adrenaline from that giant lizard?" Liar! The behemoth was on its feet again. Citing the clearance from reaching here, Paul opted to excuse Ash to go after Ashley.

"Go on ahead," the purple-haired, chip-on-the-shoulder teen told Ash. "We'll take care of Mr. Big." Since when did Paul decide on helping Gary out? Ever since their first meeting, he's criticized the brunette for allowing Ash to beat him in the Silver Conference. Ash realized that he couldn't get out with the gates blocked off...until he chose to measure the behemoth's foot out. Apparently, you can't accuse Ash for not having a strategy.

"You got it." He raced after the giant man, trying to divert his attention. "Hey, Giant!" The behemoth began to turn his attention to Ash. "Is that the biggest you can get? I've seen starter Pokémon bigger than you!" The taunting got the attention of the behemoth and stomped over to Ash. Advantage, trainer. Ash made sure he lined himself to the wall that led back to the church. The behemoth tried to squish Ash but the smaller, nimbler raven-haired rolled onto the other foot as Pikachu raced up the pointy wall. The behemoth flung it's foot forward, trying to remove Ash from the limb. Ash leaped up off the foot and gained enough momentum to fly over the fence. He's over! "See ya!" Imitating a baseball hit by a powerful slugger, Ash was going, going, gone over the wall. This was more of a lead-off than walk-off but that's beside the point. With one rival long gone, the behemoth's issue was now on the other rivals.

"You think he's gotten a bit bolder with that new voice of his?" Gary blinked. New voice? Didn't he noticed? And why didn't Paul mention it before when they first arrived?

"He's got a new voice?" he gulped in confusion. Ash and Pikachu hoped that Gary and Paul could defeat the behemoth as they made it back to the church. After 15 minutes of wandering, Ash and Pikachu reached the church and inserted the tablet into the marker. The insertion jostled something within the doors. Was it the doors unlocking? Ash pushed to clarify and the doors were open. They entered a unique place of worship, practically empty. The large cathedral, decorated with candles and some mantle in the front had a several pews facing the stage. The two searched around to see if there's something valuable in here. Otherwise, why else would it be locked?

"You see anything, buddy?" Ash questioned. Pikachu searched but squeaked nothing...that was until it spotted a ladder to upstairs.

("Hey, Ash!") Pikachu called as he pointed to the ladder. Ash spotted it and climbed it quick. There was a door as Pikachu rode his shoulder to the top. Reaching the upper floor, Ash stood as Pikachu loped to a door. Ash spotted a control panel with a lever. He pulled it and activated a set of lights: red, blue and green. There was also a white light in the middle in the emblem of the Los Illuminados.

"A puzzle?" Hitting dials, each color rotated. He hit a button in which all three aligned to the emblem...but it didn't appear to fit. The colors returned. It dawned on Ash: these three would combine to shape the emblem. Fooling around with the dials, Ash twisted each color until he saw proper alignments. Hitting the button, the lights made the shape of the emblem. The door made a sound of a lock. Pathway open. Ash reached the door and cautiously entered. The first sight was a figure running to the other side. Ash could reach for his shotgun but he didn't go for it. There, a blond female in the sleeveless orange sweater and green plaid skirt with heavy brown boots. Ashley?

"Don't come!" she yelled as she snagged a 2x4 and chucked it as Ash. He ducked.

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" She was fired up as she retreated to a corner. That's when she saw the yellow mouse and eased up, becoming more curious than feared.

"Okay, what's up with that rat? They're never that big in Washington." She came over and stuck an arm to Pikachu who sniffed it.

"You wouldn't be Ashley Graham, would you?" The blond looked up to acknowledge the male Ash.

"Yeah, I'm Ashley! I'm the daughter of the president of the United States of America." Ash found Ashley. Way to go.

"Call me Ash. I'm part of a three-cell team to bail you outta here. By the way, that's my 'sidearm,' Pikachu." Sidearm? He was willing to call his prime Pokémon his sidearm.

("If you're gonna call me a sidearm, I might as well do this,") he warned before climbing Ashley's shoulder. Ashley wondered about the other two of his three-cell team.

"You say you're part of a three-cell team but where's the rest?" she asked.

"We'll meet up with them," he promised before he mentally prayed. 'At least I hope. Gary, Paul, please be all right.' Ash must have a lot of patience for Paul. The group got out and hit the ladder.

"Uh, Ash? I'm not too comfortable with climbing down ladders." This was about to be a pain.

"Alright. I'll try to catch you when I get down." Ash slid down and waived Ashley on. She jumped and Ash cradled the catch, almost losing his footing. Once on her feet and Pikachu back with them, they bolted for the door but they would be stopped.

"I'll take the girl," an old male voice echoed. The three turned to a man in a purple cloak and carrying a staff. The face was discolored and flaky.

"Who says?" The man scoffed a little.

"The leader of this religious cult. My name is Osmund Saddler." The face on Saddler churned bad vibes in the three. "I'm demonstrating my...astounding power to the whole world. Those United States 'big men' no longer think they can police the world. In doing so, we promptly...escorted the president's daughter to offer our donation then return her." Ashley's eyes lit up in dismay. She had to go through the same thing Ash, Gary and Paul had to endure.

"Ash, I think they shot something in my neck," she confessed. Ash seethed a little. He and his rivals had the same thing.

"So, you're throwing donations everywhere," he realized. "Even us, huh?" Saddler snickered.

"You've noticed," he cackled. "Though, I'm hoping the president will give us some money in exchange for his dear daughter. Running a church like this is getting costly so I'm hoping to bargain with him." Information Ash had to groan at.

"Faith and money? Some pair you've got on your hand."

"You'd be happy to know that when the eggs hatch, you'll become my puppets. You'll be unable to...resist this passion of power." That better not happen. "You're now part of a new generation where power becomes absolute." The notion had Ash yawning.

"Yeah...you and everyone I've met. Trust me, it never works." The door burst open and two cloaks with crossbows eyed the hero and damsel. The bolts were on fire. Ash saw it, knowing what to do. The two fired the burning bolts which Ash spun around Ash and caught both bolts single handed. Another twist and it was feeling like fighting that lizard. This time, however, Ash's backhand fling destroyed the crossbows, disarming the cloaks. "Let's go!" Ash grabbed Ashley and both dove out the window back outside. A couple rolls and the two were free from Saddler's sight. Saddler was rather impressed with Ash's reaction to the crisis at hand.

"That boy...he may be a problem if he's able to live. Perhaps the Plagas is under his command." Saddler was aiming for Ash. This could be trouble and if those four need to survive, teamwork has to be established. Clearly, this was going to be a long trip for the rivals.

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	5. Emboscada! Proteger a la meta!

_**Chapter 5:Emboscada! Proteger a la meta!**_

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><p>Let's start with a phone call to Ingrid. "Tell me something good," Ingrid hoped. Ash wouldn't fail to please.<p>

"I've acquired Ashley," he reported. "Waiting instructions." Hearing that Ash recovered Ashley, Ingrid chuckled. Ash fulfilled her promise.

"Excellent work. I'll send you the coordinates that will take you and your team to the extraction point. A helicopter will evac you all from there."

"Understood. I'll rendezvous with Gary and Paul before reaching the extraction point." Hanging up, Ash and Ashley raced from the church. He could wonder about the parasite that were in both and worry about Saddler but getting Ashley to safety was first priority. However, that might as well be a tough task when an entire village awaited them. How were they going to get out now?

"Ash, here!" Ashley called out as she pushed a wagon from where they came out of. Ash tried to pick one of the barrels from in the wagon which was heavy...and felt liquid bounce the wood. Ash grinned.

"Ready for a little barrel bowling?" Barrel bowling? Demonstrating, Ash rolled a barrel down the hill at the villagers, tripping a few before coming to a stop. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt on the barrel!" Pikachu launched a perfect strike on the barrel...as well as some of the villagers. KABOOM! A rupturing explosion blasted from the barrel and a handful of villagers were charred beyond help. _"Muy Caliente!"_ Okay, Ash, don't get overexcited. Getting Ash's drift, Ashley kicked another barrel down the hill, clipping some more of the villagers before another Thunderbolt blew that barrel and more villagers to a crisp. That's one way of trimming the field. Unfortunately, they quickly ran out of barrels and with plenty of villagers still climbing, Pikachu's Thunderbolt wasn't going to be enough.

"Okay, now what?" What else could Ash think in order to get pass the villagers? The wagon was bare...and he was smiling?

"Hop on!" Pikachu jumped into the empty wagon before Ashley had the idea. She wasn't liking where this was going.

"You can't be serious... There's no steering mechanism on that wagon." Surrendering, Ashley boarded and clutched Pikachu tightly. Ash got behind the wagon and gave it one mighty push. The wagon hit the changed angle and started to gain speed. The speed nailed the groggy slow villagers, running them over. They reached the bottom in several seconds. Safely, the Ashes and Pikachu hopped off and ran passed the entrance.

"Let's see them pass this roadblock. Torterra, Rock Climb!" Ash threw his ball out and released Torterra who did the earthly pillar summon and wedged it in the doorway. That worked to perfection. "Just what I was hoping for. Thanks, Torterra. Take a nice break." Returning Torterra, Ash was ready to move.

"I don't know if now I should be more afraid of your creatures or the villagers." Ash wasn't so concerned with Ashley's questioning. Those monsters were personally trained by him.

"Trying to make me the bad guy?" Pikachu had to disagree with Ash's assumption. As they entered a ghost village, the phone rang. Ingrid was calling. Ash answered it. "Talk to me."

"Ash, I've got some bad news," Ingrid replied. Ash wasn't ready to get bad news. It better not be Gary and Paul found dead.

"What's wrong?"

"Our helicopter's out of the radar. I think someone shot it down." Ash had a mental double-take. So far, the only ones with weapons were he and the rivals. The biggest weapon all the villagers had was a chainsaw but how could that take down a helicopter?

"Do what you can about that. By the way, do you have data on a guy named Osmund Saddler?" There's a name not on Ingrid's mind. Yet, she had an idea on something.

"I'm gonna take a crack at it and say that he's the leader of _Los Illuminados_?"

"Yeah. He's also infected us with the parasites." Ingrid knew that the situation became dire.

"Try to find a way to eliminate the parasites in your body before you become one of them. I'll search the database for Saddler." Hanging up, the Ashes scurried through the village and to a bridge. As they crossed over, creepy moans alerted them to see more villagers on the approach. How did Saddler infect all these people in the amount of time he had? More moans and from an adjacent path produced more. There was so many villagers, standing and fighting would've been suicide.

"Ash, what do we do?" a panicked Ashley wondered. Ash searched around for a way to escape...until blasts of water and leaves blew the second set of villagers over the side of the cliff which was connected by the bridge. There was Gary and Paul with Blastoise and...who knew Paul had a Torterra himself? Both rivals were just fine as they raced to Ash's side.

"Ash!" Gary roared out. Both reaching, the rivals had a chance to view the female Ash for themselves.

"Nice timing, you two," Ash huffed. Gary had a chance to hear Ash and was shocked to listen to him in the oddest tone.

"Paul was right, your voice has changed." Ash nodded. "And it seems that you got the president's kid to go alongside. Way to go!" Ash giggled like it was nothing. Paul turned to the bridging company.

"Now that we're back together, let's hurry and find a place to recover!" he ordered. Ash knew Paul was right. He spotted a cabin close by. Better than nothing.

"That cabin can help," he replied. The group raced into the cabin where Gary slammed the steel door. They were safe...but for how long? Hearing footsteps, Pikachu turned and squealed someone else. Great, they ran right into a trap. Actually...

"_Chicos!"_ Luis called out. Ash turned around to see a wooden beam fly at them. Good hands Ash caught it before it even reached Gary. Luis came out to view the still thriving kids. "Small world, eh?" As Ash handed Gary the beam, Luis had a good look at Ashley. "Well, I see that the president has equipped his daughter with...ballistics." Ashley was disgusted with Luis' flirting advances.

"How rude!" she snapped, flinching Luis. "And I don't believe there's any relevance with my figure and my standing!" Ash got to Ashley's side, a notion of defense.

"We have enough problems without you trying to hit on someone, Luis," he backed Ashley. Luis wasn't too worried.

"Just trying to lighten the mood, American princess!" he tried to play off. "Perhaps knowing your name is a start to a...survivors' union. Besides, we've already got enough friction between those boys." Ashley groaned as Paul loaded his favorite weapon and Gary sipped something from a canteen. Did he find fresh water?

"Ashley Graham, President Graham's daughter," she barked. "And what do you mean friction between the boys?" Luis gazed at the faces of Gary, not wanting to be here in the first place.

'No matter what I'm doing, Paul's still riding my butt,' minded the brunette Oak. Next, Paul.

'Why was I forced to team up with pathetic trainers from the same town, let alone the same region?' wondered the purple-haired chip. 'Ash is arrogant but Gary's smart-alack use of his Pokémon nearly got us killed by that giant.' It seemed that Gary made mistakes when Paul let Ash advance to rescue Ashley. Speaking of Ash...

'I don't know about Luis but the rest of us have that parasite sprawling around in us,' concerned the raven-haired trainer. 'Should I tell them about it?' Three rivals, no two thoughts alike. Gary's upset with Paul, Paul's disgusted with the training perspectives of Gary and Ash and Ash was concerned with the parasites within Gary, Paul and Ashley. Paul walked up to Ash with a question.

"So, did you find anything interesting when rescuing the damsel?" Ash turned to his Sinnoh rival with a grit that their problems weren't anywhere remotely to minor.

"I ran into the head honcho of the _Los Illuminados. _Ingrid's running a background on him as we speak...and he told us about eggs implanted in us." Eggs? Gary heard Ash, thinking that these eggs were not the normal three ounce portion.

"Larva eggs?" he assumed. Ash wanted to go with Gary's word since one, he's never seen a larva egg in his life and two, he was injected while unconscious.

"In short, we have parasites swimming around our systems." Paul growled in anger that his body's being violated by a parasite as Gary was a bit concerned. Luis heard the news.

"Who knows how long it'll take those eggs to hatch and turn you into them," Luis referred. The boys and Ashley didn't have a lot of time on their hands with the parasites swimming in their bodies.

"Is there a way to remove these parasites before they take us over?" she wondered. Luis began to ponder if there's a way to save the kids.

"_No sé a ciencia cierta." _That was a letdown. Pikachu squeaked to tell the people that trouble's coming. A ton of villagers were coming their direction. Ash took action.

"Pikachu, keep an eye on Ashley," he commanded. "Both of you head upstairs." Agreeing, Ashley and Pikachu raced to the second floor as the men got their weapons ready, including Luis with a long barrel handgun.

"Okay, boys. It's game time!" The villagers came busting through the boarded windows and right into gunfire. The men fired round after round, shot after shot, bullet after bullet dwindling the oncoming invaders. For a few minutes, the boys were holding off the villagers, some even spurting disfiguring features. Parasites in complete control.

"Ash, upstairs!" Paul instructed. "We'll keep things in order!" Ash obeyed and got upstairs to see one villager climbing a ladder. Ashley and Pikachu could shock him into submission but Ash raced out to him with a vicious right cross. KABLAM! The punch knocked the villager from the top to the ground head first, his head busting open. Every ladder the villagers boarded, Ash pushed them off. One of the villagers chose to call off the assault.

"_Tenemos que reagruparnos!" _he called. The villagers still alive retreated on the order. The heroes and Ashley could breathe a little easier.

"That was a little scary," Gary sighed. "At least they're calling off the charge." For how long?

"Perhaps we need to think of a way to escape but with that bridge occupied by those villagers," Paul studied. "I'd want to know if there's a way to get off the land."

"There is," Ash quickly replied as he, Pikachu and Ashley returned to the rest. "There's an extraction point to reach where a helicopter's suppose to pick us up." There's a plan now. Luis seemed confident that the kids would be okay without him.

"You do what you need to do," he murmured. "I've got a few things of my own to treat." Luis opened the door and left the house. To Paul, Luis seemed to be hiding something.

"You don't suppose he's working with _Los Illuminados,_ do you?" Paul questioned. It was an interesting speculation. Even Ashley had concern about Luis.

"If he is working with Saddler, he's putting on an impressive act," she believed. Ash wasn't concerned about Luis as much as he was worried about getting Ashley home.

"Let's not get worked up about him, alright?" Ash tried to get order down. "Let's get outta here before the villagers engage round two." The four with Pikachu exited the cabin and found a secret path by the left side. Entering a straightaway, a boulder was hanging by a simple wooden beam at the top of the cliff. Little did they know, they were going to need it. A roar echoed, alerting all to what was behind him. The behemoth reappeared, much to Gary's and Paul's chagrin...and Ash's surprise. "Didn't you two take care of him before?"

"Yeah, we did!" Gary replied. "We even saw it dissolve!" How many behemoths did he have? Ash spotted the hanging boulder. "I also remember that he had that parasite which protruded out of his back now that you mentioned those eggs inside of us." That gave Ash an idea.

"Let's get Mr. Big under that boulder. Gible, I choose you!" Ash released Gible with a plan. "Gible, Dig!" Gible entered the ground and reemerged between the legs. "Gible, Draco Meteor!" Gible began storing energy within its body before firing straight up... PING! Right into the little behemoth under the loincloth. That had to hurt. The behemoth clutched his junk as he doubled over in pain. That even made Paul squint in the behemoth's suffering. "Good work, Gible...though, I should have told you where to attack like the back." So he felt the groin shot as well. Recovering his wits, Ash grabbed a green grenade and pulled the pin. "This might sound odd but...Frag Grenade, I choose you!" He's right, it did sound odd. Ash chucked the grenade at the beam which exploded and toppled the platform, the boulder falling down onto the still down behemoth. SPLAT! The boulder turned the behemoth's head into a moldy pancake. He wasn't getting up anytime soon. To Gary, it's a sight he's seen before.

"He's not a Pokémon Master yet, but he's definitely the master of thinking outside the box." To say Ash was a master of unorthodox acts just seemed that Ash preferred to work in so many different angles than normally trained.

"It's rather pathetic for him to be so underhanded," Paul snorted. That had Gary groan in displeasure.

"Hey, better to be underhanded than have no plan." Paul snarled at Gary's reply as they continued through...until a door blocked their path. It was too tall to climb over. There also seemed to be a scanning device to the door.

"I know that scanner," Ashley inputted. "It's scans your eyes and if it recognizes you like this for example, it'll unlock the door." Trying it out, Gary placed his face where the red light scanned his eyes. Nothing.

"It didn't accept me. We need someone who can trip the scanner and get us passage." Luis was long gone. There was no one who could trip it here, not even Ashley. They began to search for more ways to get around the roadblock which took them to a ski lift fitted with platforms instead of benches. After taking care of those on the lift, the youngsters reached the other side of a deep chasm. Their search on the other side had them coming across a barn. Something about that barn rubbed Paul the wrong way as he walked toward the opening.

"Paul, where are you going?" Ash wondered. In his disgust, Paul snorted his away.

"Away from pathetic trainers from the Kanto Region," he scowled. Gary and Ash came over as he entered the barn...and the doors were closing. Ash was stopped by the door and Gary ceased just a moment after. Hearing the doors slam, Paul turned around to see the Big Cheese as his big hand snagged Paul by the neck and lifted him.

"_Usted y sus amigos nos han cruzado por última vez!" _he angrily roared. _"Que todos vamos a morir!"_ Paul was in a bind when he spotted a gas barrel. He whipped out his gun and shot the barrel. KABOOM! The explosion ignited the hay and lit the barn on fire, rapidly concerning the Ashes.

"Paul!" they yelled out. How was Paul going to escape the hands of the Big Cheese and could the rivals help out?

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	6. Rompiendo el Castillo de Los Illuminados

_Chapter 6: Rompiendo el Castillo de Los Illuminados_

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><p>Paul was trapped with the Big Cheese in a burning barn while the Ashes and Gary were outside. Ash wasn't going to stay back and wait for the grim outcome. "Hang on, Paul!" Ash roared. "I'm coming!" He reached for the door handles and pulled. They were locked...and burning his hands. "Yeowch!" He shook off the burning sting. "No good! We can't get in!" Not that way, at least. Ash knew Paul was tough but the Big Cheese was a whole new level.<p>

"Ash, this is Paul who's in there!" Gary wanted to point out. "He can hold his own in there!" It wasn't that Ash didn't believe his first rival. He just had a sinking feeling that after the two run-ins with the bearded big man, one where he tossed Paul's Aggron back at him and another where he nearly choked out the second rival altogether, Paul would be in a bad fight. That's when he spotted two villagers carrying a tall ladder, tall enough to reach a window on the upper floor. To Ash, this was an idea.

"Open sesame..." He dashed to the villagers who were setting up the ladder. Ash decided to put his Spanish tongue to good use. _"Es lo que ustedes necesitan ayuda con esa escalera?" _Nope, they had it set before Ash noticed. _"Supongo que no." _That's when the villagers spotted their forigner.

"_Deje de él!"_ growled one villager. Ash needed to bail.

"Up I go!" Ash hustled up the ladder and through the window where he saw the Big Cheese...with his body split in half only connected by his spine. Paul looked like he was fine but Ash wasn't taking that chance. The fire was raging all over the barn. The smoke billowed out the window, making it difficult for Ash or Paul to breathe. The villagers climb up the ladder to see one of their own struggling as he was getting bullet-riddled.

"Mendez!" Big Cheese had a proper name. Mendez turned to see Ash squaring up against the villagers. He became a monkey and raced to save his men.

"That idiot!" Paul scowled. Ash would turn Mendez into the idiot by his race. One villager swung an ax but Ash ducked it and scored an uppercut to the gut, forcing the villager to drop the weapon. Finally spotting Mendez out of the corner of his eye, he snagged the still reeling villager for a tossing projectile.

"Head's up!" he shouted as both Mendez and the villager's heads met from Ash's heave. Both clocked enemies fell into the burning hay. "Now that's a head-on collision." One head-to-head that was decided in less than a second. Mendez, with his body in flames, rose up pissed off. Ash ignored Mendez and twisted to Paul. "I'll take care of the fire! You finish off him!" And how was he going to do so how? Buizel? Paul scoffed at Ash and his quick study of the layout.

"I wonder if he's trying to impress me to think better than saying he's some pathetic Kanto boy. His voice has broken ground in our adventure." Ash released Buizel where he used Water Gun on the flames to minimize the blazing damage and smoke. Paul whipped out his sidearm and fired, piercing Mendez multiple times with each round. Paul had an idea, practically adopting some of Ash's lightning strategies. "I need three flashers!" Three flash grenades? Ash chucked three blue grenades down to Paul, believing he knew a way to stop Mendez. "Aggron, standby for battle!" Paul released Aggron, knowing full well that he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Ash realized Paul's plan.

'Of course. Those flash grenades will blind Mendez for Aggron to score a hit.' Mendez chased Ash again, not a good idea since Ash whipped out his shotgun. BLAM! Shot in the head, Mendez flew back down to where Paul pulled a pin from a flash grenade as the practically invincible Big Cheese rose up. Paul tossed the grenade where he and Aggron covered their eyes but Mendez wasn't quick enough and got caught in the sudden shine with a paining roar.

"Flash Cannon!" Aggron fired a silver beam, blasting the spine in pieces. Mendez fell from the separated blasting but still lived. His legs were still. With the fire put out, Ash retrieved the ladder as Paul crept toward the down Mendez. He pulled the pins from the other two and shoved them into the fallen's innards.

"_Pronto, las plagas se destruye," _Mendez gasped. _"Usted perderá todo."_ You'd think Paul knew what he said? Or cared?

"Whatever." Ah, no. KABOOM! The Flash did more than light up Mendez's inside. The concussion of the blast knocked the lights out in Georgia and good. Ash set the ladder, a bit scornful with Paul's brutality.

"Was that really necessary?" he questioned as Paul climbed the ladder, an eye in his pocket. Ew!

"What do you think? And next time I'm in trouble, don't come bailing my tail from danger." Man, everything Ash did to keep everyone safe, Paul rants him out in negativity. They climbed down the ladder to regroup with Gary and Ashley, relieved to see them still standing.

"Told ya he could hold his own," he vehemently sighed. "But you wanted to make sure instead of insisting in my opinion." Ash couldn't help it. He had to make sure in the benefit.

"Hey, I'm not wanting to upset Reggie about Paul eating it, alright?" he argued. Paul growled more at Ash's words.

"Stop bringing up my pathetic older brother!" he bellowed as he stomped away.

"Wait, do all of you have siblings?" Ashley asked. Gary was offering the details.

"Older brother," he informed as he pointed to Paul. "Older sister," he continued as he fingered himself. "Only child," he finished as he "gunned" Ash before following Paul, leaving the Ashes in the rear with Pikachu.

"Kinda sucks to be an only child, huh?" Ash just shrugged his shoulders before they followed the rest. After scaling back through the ski lift, Paul scanned Mendez's eye and the doors opened. The foursome followed a trail and for the time being, it was just them as they approached a castle. That's when the overly used groans of villagers sounded the approach of another mob.

"_Pararlos!"_ one villager roared out. _"Que van a obtener en el castillo!"_ They were too late. The group reached the drawbridge and operated the cranks to raise it, cutting the path to the others.

"_Hemos llegado demasiado tarde!" _ another local groaned. Inside, the boys had taken stock of the size of the castle. They weren't aware that the castle had defensive tactics like a catapult. Soon enough, flaming shots rained down on them, exploding on landing. The group found a storage shelter after some running, hearing repeated moans of what sounded like a prayer.

"We need a way to stop that catapult!" Gary shouted over the explosions. Paul started to smell gunpowder from somewhere below. Lots of gunpowder.

"I can smell gunpowder from a cannon from over there!" he suggested. "Ash, come with me!" Ash nodded, believing Paul had a plan and turned to Gary.

"Hold the fort!" he ordered. Ash and Paul scampered under the fire of the catapult and arrows from crossbows. Reaching the other side, they found another crank. Paul released Electabuzz. Why?"

"Electabuzz, use Protect!" Electabuzz erected a green veil just as another round from the catapult hit. The veil was strong as Ash and Paul teamed to crank the wheel, ultimately revealing a cannon as suspected. Paul exited the Protect as he fired the cannon by pulling the fuse. The cannon fired a large bomb, blowing the catapult...and the users into pieces. Shreds of black robed cloth scattered.

"That was perfect! Thanks, Electabuzz!" Electabuzz nodded before being recalled by Paul who simply walked.

"Electabuzz is not your Pokémon. Don't address it as it is." Paul's callous attitude had Ash wondering if he wanted this parasite to eat him without help. Regrouped again, the crowd entered the castle where Ash got a buzz. Ingrid, did she find anything about Saddler?

"Ingrid, what's up?"

"Concern and maybe my blood pressure," she scoffed a bit. "Where's your current location?"

"A decrepit castle just beyond a ski-lift. We were hoping for cover when that was learned to be a bad move."

"Clarify."

"I have a hunch that the castle is in cahoots with the _Los Illuminados._Let me tell you that was the worst welcoming since I rescued a baby Lapras in the Orange Islands."

"A baby Lapras, I'd love to see what you mean. Meantime, I need you to-" Swiftly, the connection was lost.

"Ingrid? Ingrid!" No dice. A jamming signal in the castle? "I guess we're on our own." Gary had gone to a wall where there was a platinum sword embedded in a golden section of a wall. It didn't ring sense as he carefully pried the sword out.

"I wonder if there's something that goes here instead of this sword," he pondered as he returned to Ash. "Hey, any word from US HQ?"

"No, I lost contact with Ingrid." Why would the phone suddenly disconnect? Before anyone can ponder, more cloaks arrived and attacked. Ash did a superb job blasting away the cloaks as Gary removed a gold sword from a platinum portion only to insert the platinum sword where gold was. Perfect fit. Retreating back to the gold wall, he inserted the gold sword, opening a wall to reveal a door.

"Hurry!" The group ran through the door which led back outside. They ran to evade any extra resistance when...

"_Chicos!" _shouted a familiar voice. Only one person would call the group _chicos. _The group turned to see Luis racing from behind.

"Luis, what's up?" Ash greeted as Luis began to catch his breath.

"Good news. I got something that can help you." He began to dig into his pockets...not having anything. "Dammit! Must have lost it outrunning those villagers!" Lost what?

"What was it?" Ashley asked.

"It's a drug that's suppose to control seizures and convulsions." The group looked at each other, making sure that they were okay. No one had a seizure recently, right?

"We're all fine," Ash reassured. "None of us have had any difficulty with health since that sea creature." Back when Ash had his old voice and that all three passed out gradually.

"You're all carriers, right? You've been coughing up blood?" Pikachu rose his paw, saying that he was completely fine.

("I haven't!") he denied. Luis didn't count on Ash's Pikachu to be part of the group.

"That's one less to consider a carrier. There isn't much time now that the eggs have hatched." That concerned Pikachu and Ashley. The boys were in hot water but Ash stood in confident fashion.

"Hey, leave the situation to me," he grinned. Luis was rather astounded with Ash being forward about what he could be plotting. "And a situation like this might need some thinking outside the box, right Gary?" Gary scoffed, remembering that Silver Conference battle he lost to Ash.

"Okay, I deserve some of the blame for that," he admitted. "But I'll leave you with Ashley if only to find the drug." Gary's going with Luis? That left Ash with Ashley and Paul...but that would be very short lived.

"There's no way I'm staying by a pathetic party crasher," he snarled as he walked off.

"Ash!" Luis called, forcing Ash to turn away from Paul. "I have faith that you'll keep an eye on the president's daughter. Just don't fail me." On that note, Gary and Luis left, now having Ash and Ashley behind with Pikachu. Ash was upset that the others bailed on them when they needed. Pressing on, the Ashes blew through a few more cloaks only to enter another door. Inside, creeping laughter echoed off the walls. Trying not to intimidated, Ash and Ashley continued...to the base of a stairwell.

"I didn't hear the joke, let alone a punchline," he scorned. Pikachu spotted the sounds from the balcony just above the staircase as someone was coming out.

"I was simply humored at how you haven't noticed who may be running the show," a cackling Spanish toned man scoffed. Looking up, there was a shrimp of a guy, about Ash's height wearing navy blue royal garb. He also was wrinkled with pasty white skin and gray hair. By him were two large cloaks.

"And who might you be?"

"I am Ramon Salazar, the eighth castellan of this glorious architecture. I have been given...enormous power and control by the great Saddler." Unlike the boys, he was given the eggs. Ash had to say something about Osmund.

"Ozzy really likes to giveaway his eggs, doesn't he?" Ramon jumped in insult. Not to him, more like to the cult.

"How dare you mock the leader of the _Los Illuminados_! Regardless, I was expecting a brethren to...make his acquaintance." Ash wasn't one to consider Ramon a brethren, though it was a nice gesture.

"I'm happy as an only child, _gracias!"_ Ramon huffed a chuckle, impressed at Ash's tongue.

"You've got quite a bit of spunk, little one. However, if you value your life, it would be your best interest to simply...accept the power." With that he walked off, Ash still shooting his mouth off.

"Takes one to know one!" Ramon stopped and gazed at a determined Ash, a new feud boiling. He turned back around and exited.

"There's no way in hell that I'm turning into one of them!" Ashley spat in protest. Ash breathed himself to a calm mood.

"Cool your jets, Ash. I got this." Ash proceeded forward as Ashley twitched her eye, startled that he'd call _her_ by _his_ name. Finally, she surrendered and tailed Ash. Just steps from a door down a hallway after the staircase, a wall sprung up. Path was blocked but to Ash, no blockage would stand up. He released Gible. "Gible, Dragon Pulse!" Gible fired a green sphere from his mouth and shot it at the wall. KABOOM! The wall...stood. That strong attack didn't put a dent in that wall. Even worse, Gible felt weak in the...did he even have knees? "Guess we need to find a way around." Regaining strength, Gible walked up to the hard-as-nails wall and bit into it. "Gible?" Gible did something to make the wall glow orange. Ash realized what Gible was doing. "I didn't know you could use Draco Meteor like that. Let's take a few steps back." Getting far back, Gible released it with a big KABOOM! Hoping for the best, the cloud of smoke disguised the outcome. As if all the world hated the Ashes, the wall stood. Draco Meteor failed...mostly. Ash was intrigued with Gible's mechanics of using Draco Meteor.

"So wait, your Gible bites on something and transfers...whatever _that_ was and a big explosion is the outcome?" Ash dug out his device and hit a few keys before handing it Ashley.

"Draco Meteor is a move only learned by Dragon-Type Pokémon," the device computed. "The Pokémon stores power into it's body before ejecting the powerful orb to the sky, creating meteors to fall on all reckless enough to stand close by. However, the Pokémon's Special Defense takes a drastic plummet." A risky move to have.

"Unless someone has magic under their cloaks, Gible should be just fine." Ash nodded before going through the only open door, wondering about his rivals. Ash stopped when he looked down from a window, viewing a cage as Ashley and Pikachu walked from him toward flame-throwing statues. No way they could cross it. That's when Pikachu spotted something shining from the painting on their right.

("What's that?") he spoke. Ashley looked to the painting, spotting a silver key. She removed it with an inscription imprinted: "LLAVE DE LA MAZMORRA." Maybe Ash knew what that translated to.

"Hey, Ash! I'm not too sure but I think that key goes to that door." She offered the key to Ash who had a good look at it.

"Dungeon key?" he questioned as he translated the engraving. He used the key which fitted into the lock and opened the door. "Stay here with Pikachu." Even with his old voice back, Pikachu was still fearful for Ash's well being. Ash journeyed down a flight of stairs where he spotted a tall, muscular man wearing black pants, a silver helmet covering his entire head...and a pair of steel claws on each hand. He was boarded to a wall beside a lever, all behind iron bars. Ash peered around to see crates and two silver bells while Pikachu and Ashley watched from the safety of the window above. Cautiously, Ash reached the bars. Before he could reach the gate to open, the clawed man woke up and broke from the steel shackles, raging. Ash retreated to get distance as the raging man destroyed the door. Now Ash was facing down a man that had gone berserk. Could he escape?

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	7. El Ciego ve Destino

_Chapter 7: El Ciego ve Destino_

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><p>A heavily muscled man with a steel helmet over his face, claws that could skewer several men in seconds and totally raging on something not kosher...Ash may have his hands full with this guy. Ashley and Pikachu watched in fear as the restraints failed to keep the berserk man held down. Ash began to walked back when it bumped into a couple crates. The man charged right at Ash despite the mash covering his whole face, meaning blind, mute and cannot smell. Ash dove away from the deadly swipe. "Ash!" Ashley screeched from the window. The man turned to the direction of the shout and ran to the wall underneath the American. Ash had to think of something. That's when the silver bells came to his mind. He pulled a coin from his pocket and fired the money at the bell behind him. DING! The man stopped and turned to the bell. Ash backed away as the man raced at the bell and swung. The claws got wedged in the wall, barely missing the bell. This gave Ash an idea.<p>

'Of course!' he thought. 'He's reacting to sound. Maybe I can use this and bait him over to help us.' He turned to Ashley and Pikachu with a finger over the lip. Ashley and Pikachu wondered what's up. Ash had another coin as he tried to get to the lever in the cell. He wouldn't make it as the man yanked the claw out of the wall and twisted to see Ash...if he could see him. Ash put the coin back in for a green grenade. He pulled the pin and...threw the pin at the other bell. DING! That sound forced the man to follow the ring into the opposite wall. When the man passed Ash, he threw the grenade and raced to pull the lever. The grenade smacked the man's back. KABANG! The concussive blast slammed the man into the wall with massive force. The man was down as Ash raced back upstairs and waived the others to follow. It took a minute or two for the clawed man to rebound. The Ashes and Pikachu managed to enter the door on the other side of the room where they first met Salazar. They entered a hallway and met more cloaks.

"_¡Alto!" _they warned, which they did. They were starting to move in when the claws showed up. The Ashes were surrounded. Claws blocking one end, cloaks blocking another. One of the villagers had a bright idea.

"_Garrador, attack!" _he shouted. The first cloak sensed a problem when he called for the claws to strike.

"_¡Necio!"_ Ash crouched and motioned Ashley to get down too. Garrador charged in, passing the Ashes and struck the cloaks. Each strike was killer as the cloaks' robes were shredded and stained with the yellow blood. Down the hallway, more cloaks saw the murdering and began to freak out, making Garrador attack them. The Ashes followed close by, trying not to make a sound which could spell their doom. They reached a large ballroom with a moat blocking the door on the other side of the water. Garrador was unstoppable, shearing through wooden shields and maces like scissors through paper. The death count was rising and Ash didn't need to use a weapon. Well, technically he used a frag grenade but that was for a distraction. The screams of the cloaks who, despite overwhelming numbers, couldn't bring this beast of a man to his knees. The Ashes had this opportunity to distance himself from the chaos.

"Staraptor, Buizel, I choose you!" Ash released his Buizel and a large grayish bird with a rouge feather style. "Staraptor, when Ashley jumps, try to glide her to the other side." The airborne bird allowed Ashley to grip its talons while Ash and Buizel jumped into the water, throwing caution to whatever could be lurking inside the moat. With a running start and no time to waste, Ashley and Staraptor leaped and hovered over to the other side of the moat as Garrador rushed at them. Staraptor struggled to keep it and Ashley high above the pool.

"You can do it!" Ashley encouraged. With one caw, Staraptor mustered whatever it had left and barely reached the other side where both collapsed. Wits recovered, Ashley petted the Pokémon as Ash and Buizel arrived. Ash recalled Buizel with both smiling.

"Good work, you two. Get some rest." Both back in their Pokéballs, the Ashes were ready to press on when they continued to view Garrador racing at them, completely blind to what was in front of him. For example, the moat. That's when he bent his legs. He KNEW? One mighty leap, Garrador jumped the watery gap, almost superhuman. He was almost over when Pikachu charged up, his body cocooned in a stream of yellow light. Ash knew what Pikachu was performing. "Let's make it count, Pikachu. Volt Tackle!" Pikachu jumped and struck Garrador just before he touched down on the land. The staggering hit, knocked Garrador back and into the moat. Let's see him get out now. Pikachu landed back by Ash's feet, a surge of electricity rippling through the Electric Mouse Pokémon. "Pikachu, you okay?" Pikachu shrugged off the shot and smile at his master.

("I'm good!") he squeaked. Ashley wondered why Pikachu had that tiny surge.

"Did something go wrong with that?" she asked. It was normal for Ash to expect a question from Ashley. She was seeing Pokémon and attacks for the first time.

"It's normal," he replied. "Volt Tackle is a powerful attack but it does recoil damage to the one attacking as well. Think of it as a double-edge sword." The risk of injury to injure someone else. Some of the surviving robes watched helplessly as the Ashes moved on. Going down one corridor, Ashley felt a ripping inside her. The sudden jolt caused her to cough blood onto her hands. Ash got worried quickly. This was the president's daughter that needed safe return. "You okay?" Realizing Ash was closing in, Ashley didn't want to let the blood become Ash's concern.

"I'm fine!" she snapped as she shoved Ash back. However, her push off sent her body crashing into the adjacent wall, knocking her down. Ash raced over to make sure she was okay when roars stopped him. He couldn't believe it.

"No way!" Garrador emerged, soaked from helmet to toe. Did the helmet keep him from drowning? Even Ash had to think the size of the claws would weigh him down and keep him from resurfacing. If water couldn't calm this beast, what would? Ash peered to his right as Garrador inched closer, spotting six oval holes in a wall. There were three holes on each side with the width of a grown body. Ashley was down near the other side of the hallway and if Garrador senses her, she's doomed. Ash wasn't the only one aware of it.

"_**Use the shoulder," **_a mysterious voice echoed. That had Ash look around for the voice. **_"Don't worry about me right now, get the claws to pursue you then use the shoulder!" _**Garrador reached the end of the hallway as he was a yard from Ashley at one end. Ash had to get Garrador from Ashley. He did a sumo stomp. The stomp stopped Garrador to turn to Ash who stomped with the other foot.

"_Toro!" _Ash, this wasn't a bull. Garrador charged at Ash who lined up in a three-point stance. He waited for Garrador to reach the spot, feeling a sensation in his shoulder. Garrador wound his arm to slice Ash while Ashley watched helplessly with Pikachu in her arms. WHIFF! Ash corked his body away from the strike. _"Olé!" _Ash sprung forward. SMASH! Ash's shoulder smacked into Garrador's knees, buckling the caps in. The smash flipped Garrador like a pancake. He landed back first onto the hardened floor that appeared to be missing some of the concrete. Before anyone could act, there was a reason for the missing pieces of floor: rising spikes. The spikes shot from the ground up, pinning then skewering Garrador through his body. Ashley and Pikachu jerked away from the gory sight. Garrador roared in unreal pain but began quieting until he roared no longer and his arms would fall limp. Garrador was dead. The spikes lowered back to the ground and Garrador was still. Ash summoned a monkey with fire for hair and a while furry chest. once again so that he could have help set up Garrador to the wall where they slapped him into the wall. They barely cleared away as curved bars sprung out of the holes and wrapped the clawed assassin as Ashley stood. Finally, the wall rotated and spun Garrador to the other side. Ash finally breathed a sigh of relief. "I had about enough of that guy." Same with Ashley but she was more inept at Ash.

"That was a little too close for comfort," she huffed. "What were you trying to do, impress me?" Ash, trying to impress a girl, let alone the president's kid?

"I heard a voice telling me to use my shoulder to knock him over. Just had to wait for that moment to tag him." Ashley acted less than impressed. Ash and Pikachu began to journey further into the castle while a huffy daughter just looked on.

"Ash Ketchum, I just know you'll be the death of me!" Ignoring her, Ash walked ahead. Suddenly, there was a ring. Was it Ingrid? Ash answered as Ashley caught up.

"Talk to me." A laughter shrilled terror into the receiver. Ash jerked the phone away from hearing the horrifying cackle. "Ramon?"

"So sorry to keep you from reaching the Secret Service across the Atlantic," Salazar mocked. "We jacked the line to prevent you from spilling...unnecessary information." Ash scoffed. That's when he decided to tease Salazar.

"You mean tell Washington about the outdated weapons you're demonstrating on us? Or about how Mr. Claws decimated your men before becoming a pin cushion?" Salazar snarled, losing his snickers. And it wasn't just the candy bar, either.

"You...killed Garrador? He's invincible!" Ah, no. "No weapon can pierce him!"

"Yeah, I saw. You just needed to trap him."

"So it seems. By the way, I released some of my insects for some workout in the sewers below." Ash could follow but he had a feeling someone was already taking care of them.

"I'd love to but I believe one of my rivals may be down there already with your bugs." There was only one rival Ash knew was alone: Paul.

"You're bluffing!"

"Hey, check for yourself. We did break to handle our own businesses." In another portion of the castle, Gary found a bottle of red/white pills underneath a cabinet. Could those be the medicine to control the parasites?

"Is this it, Luis?" he asked. Luis waived his hand to look at it himself. Gary tossed the bottle and studied it. One nod told the two that Gary found the prescription for those seizures.

"_Si!"_ he replied. "Let's go find the others." Gary acknowledged before heading out to find the others. Meanwhile, Paul was watching something involving plenty of robes surrounding a red cloak who had a devilish skull with crooked horns.

"Looks like a ritual," he whispered. "Whatever it is, I don't care about." Finding flash, fire and frag grenades during his solo trek, Paul was ready to make his move. He threw the blue, flash grenade down from the level above. When one of the black cloaks spotted the flash grenade, it was too late. BANG! The blinding flash and concussive sound wave quickly disoriented the cloaks. Paul exercised part two: Pokémon support as he tossed his Pokéball. "Drapion, standby for battle!" The ball opened to reveal a giant scorpion with long arms and pincers on it's tail to add to the neck a normal scorpion wouldn't have. The cloaks were on the move at them. "Use Pin Missile!" Drapion fired stinging volleys of pins, spearing into the cloaks as Paul backed it up with his machine gun. Cloaks were getting mowed down and while Drapion was dealing with most of the religious folk, Paul pursued the one in red. Two shots to the kneecaps left the red defenseless. He snatched the key before he used the horns and planted him into the ground. "I'll be taking this, even if you do mind." He returned to Drapion, still fit to battle while the others were a different tale. "Good work. Return." After recalling Drapion, Paul continued forward until he got to a certain portion where Salazar was waiting.

"Well, well!" he spoke up. "This wouldn't be one of those...rivals the one guarding the president's daughter was talking about, no?" He pranced around up in his upper balcony, a bit upset. "But I have no desire for you, sadly. I'm only interested in Ashley." Desperation. Paul found humor in Ramon's struggles.

"If you couldn't take down a pathetic trainer like that Pallet boy, you're even more deplorable." The way Paul addressed Salazar, he'd have an easier conversation with Ash...if not for tricking Garrador to his death.

"I'm deplorable, you say? Keep in mind, this is my castle that you've trespassed onto. I am-"

"I don't care who you are." That was rude, Paul. One Salazar took personally.

"You insolent child!" Paul had a study about his height of the railing and the supposed height of Salazar just to poke some fun.

"Takes one to know one. Besides, what with that figure? You have the hair of a old geezer and a body of kid." A point Salazar wanted to clear up.

"Well, as startling as my looks to say, I am merely 20 years old." Even more use to tease and mock the castle owner.

"And you can't take care of someone about half your age? What a laugh!" Salazar had just about enough of Paul's sarcastic mouth. The walls opened up to more armed cloaks. An ambush and Paul was surrounded.

"I will not tolerate those who...belittle me." As Salazar made his escape, the cloaks moved in. Can Paul escape or will Ash and Gary be down a rival, much to their relief if being heartless?

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	8. ¿Qué se Necsita para ser us Verdadero Pa

_Chapter 8: ¿Qué se Necsita para ser us Verdadero Padre_

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><p>Paul was surrounded. Cloaks covered every corner around the room while the scorn of the trainer emerged after Salazar escaped in his cowardly fashion. Paul may be cold but he didn't run with his tail between his legs. He took action. "Aggron, Magmortar, Usuring, stand by!" he summoned. Aggron and two others emerged. One was a tall brown grizzly bear while the other was a flame-covered being with bazookas for arms. "Attack, all together!" The Pokémon bulldozed everyone and striking each with flaming attacks, powerful arm strikes, blasts of metallic beams, everything but the kitchen sink. Not one of the cloaks stood a chance. "Excellent reaction time! Don't forget it! Return!" Paul recalled his Pokémon before heading out. Speaking of out, the Ashes and Pikachu were outside trying to get through a hedge maze. After their close call with Garrador, all these two were seeking were freedom and finding their fri- rivals alive.<p>

"This maze definitely takes me back to how I keep getting lost during my adventures throughout my world," he compared. So many wrong turns and dead ends? Ashley was rather skeptic about the help she received. Then again, the help she was getting to begin with was killed. "I could use Staraptor to get a better vantage point to tell us where to go." Something Pikachu thought there was no harm to unleash.

("We're safe right now,") he squeaked. That's when Ashley saw something when Ash turned to reply to Pikachu. It was a dog tag. Leon's dog tag.

"Okay, let's try it." As he reached for Staraptor's Pokéball, Ashley let Ash know of his interesting accessory.

"Hey, Ash?" she voiced. "Why are you wearing a military dog tag? You're a little young to be wearing one like that." From all she knew, it was a toy tag. Ash couldn't lie about what happened to her first rescuer. He held Leon's tag from his chest and stared at the name: "Leon S. Kennedy."

"It actually belonged to who was suppose to rescue you before we came along. We found Leon without his head. That's when HQ called him...except I answered them who told us about rescuing you. The reason I have Leon's tag is when this is over, I want to give it to the rest of the family, to remind them about their son or father or whoever family he was to them." That's rather thoughtful. Ashley thought it was something else.

"As if it wasn't bad enough that I was taken here against my will, my father hires his secret service to find me and the one who comes to my rescue is dead before even knowing what's going on. Meantime, father's working on his reelection and control with the US public. I can already imagine what some of the questions will pop out while on his campaign. I mean, ever since he and his government had taken office after the Supreme Court impeached George W. Bush and his running mates from Washington for insubordination after the 9/11 attacks and his war against Iraq and Afghanistan in his so-called 'War on Terror.' Now it's the election year and people are wondering how father's gonna remain on this while I'm still in the custody of... Dammit, I can't think of anything right now to- Ugh!" She's more upset at Saddler than she was about how the president was controlling the issue of his missing daughter. "All my father ever cared about was making sure the country was in a safe and desolate compound, and focusing the attention away from the Graham family." Ash felt like he had to get some things off his chest. Did he have a confession?

"At least you have a father." That came out of left field, even for Pikachu. Ash had no dad? Then how was he born? Ashley wasn't really buying into Ash's little ploy.

"Oh no! I'm not falling for any guilt trips! Unless you were a fertilized embryo, you have a father!" Maybe Ash was being truthful. Give him a chance to explain.

"I mean, you've got a dad that actually cares about you. I don't remember who my dad is or what he looks like. There are no pictures of him throughout my home and mom tells me about how much I remind her of him. I haven't seen him for a long time, if not all my life." Ashley's mean demeanor was changing as Ash spoke about the lack of knowing who his dad was. "You don't know who my father is, do you, Pikachu?" Pikachu shook his head. He didn't have an idea about who his father was either, and he's been with him about the entire time.

("No clue at all,") he replied. Ashley couldn't believe that someone as brave as Ash had been was without a father who could show him the ropes.

"So, I envy you, Ashley. Not because your dad's the United States president, but because you have a dad." Ashley became sarcastic to sympathetic with this confession. She approached Ash and hugged him. How talented do you have to be to get a hug from the First Daughter?

"If you do have a father, he's a coward," she bashed the parent. "You're a lot braver than he could ever be." Ash was feeling the warmth of the president's daughter and how sorry she felt for him not to know about how he lived. That's when a buzz sounded. Did Ingrid find a way around the jacked line? Ashley broke the hug to allow Ash to answer the phone.

"Talk to me." Guess who was on the other side of the line?

"You've got some rude friends, Mr. Ketchum," Salazar complained. "Calling me...deplorable? What insolence!" Ash scoffed and shrugged his shoulders like he knew how Paul would react.

"Yeah, I told you that he was a rival. He's far worse than Gary."

"Indeed. We would be far greater friends while he's around. Anyway, I see that you're in my garden with the girl. Do you like it?"

"Well, I gotta say it's not bad. Could use some flowers like tulips, roses, carnations..."

"A florist, huh? Not what I expect from a male. Do you have a parent with a green thumb?" Salazar coughed a little giggle before continuing. "Anyway, I've let loose a few of my pets. They're hungry for human flesh. It's in their diet."

"Great, and me without any kibble." Salazar scoffed back.

"You're funny, Mr. Ketchum. You'll have to excuse me. I need to tie up some loose ends. A few rats have festered into my castle aside from your...rivals."

"Hey, call me again if you feel lonely." With one final smirk, Salazar disconnected. However, it left Ash a little puzzled.

"I wonder what Ramon meant by that: a few rats." Ashley heard the befuddling details and wondered if anything was wrong.

"Are your rivals in trouble?" she wondered. Salazar did mention rats but added that it was more than Paul and Gary.

"No, something he said just now. A few rats... There's Luis but..." That's when he remembered that Gary was rescued by someone from Mendez. "Maybe Gary knows. I still remember he was saved." They wouldn't have enough time to ponder because here came snarling dogs, a pack full of them. The Ashes were surrounded. That's when the eerie voice returned.

"**_Do what you can to protect the girl,"_ **it sounded. **_"Allow me to enhance your abilities."_** Ash wanted to thank the voice for helping him with Garrador.

"You're the parasite that's in me, aren't you?" If so, it was clearly working alongside the good guys.

"_**As much as I would like to confess my hatred to Saddler about this abuse to my family, we've got some work ahead of us."**_ This had to be the first time something bad was doing something good. A rush of adrenaline flowed throughout Ash's body. Once Ash was set, the dogs pounced and some of those had tentacles protruding out of their backs. Ash swung a backhand which practically ripped the head of one and in that same motion, pulled the trigger on one who tailed the first. BANG! Good night, Fido! Pikachu zapped a couple of the vicious hounds to submission. It didn't matter what the dogs did, Ash and Pikachu were unbeatable. Ash clubbed and shot the dogs to death while Pikachu stunned them for target practice. After a minute, the dogs were done. Pikachu was showing a little fatigue but he did the job. Ash turned to the hugger to see about her health.

"You okay?" Ashley nodded. She's fine.

"_**Ever since Saddler brainwashed us, we've been used to destroy the host's organs to manipulate them in Saddler's support." **_The parasite was appalled to be working with Saddler. Ash wondered about this parasite's history. **_"When I was shocked, I regained my senses. I don't know how you did it but I'm grateful to be freed from Saddler's control."_** Ash knew it was Pikachu who helped regain that parasite's mentality. The group moved on, getting back indoors. Just as they stepped in, the release of a holster was sounded. The Ashes stopped as a handgun was pressed into Ash's spine. Ashley turned around to see an Asian woman in that red dress which saved Gary before. Her raven hair and sunglasses disguised what her plan for Ash was.

"Put your hands up," she warned. Ash, not wanting to die, complied and lifted his hands. Pikachu saw the gun and leaped into Ashley's arms in fear. Ash tried to remain calm despite the gun to his back.

"What do you want with him?" she disputed. The Asian shot a look, not her gun, at Ashley.

"The dog tag. I saw what happened to Leon." What did she know about Leon? Ash reached for the chain to remove the dog tag. The Asian kept her gun trained on Ash's back, making sure that any ill-advised moves would mean instant death. Ash wrapped his arm to the back and showed the Asian the tag while raising the other arm back up. The Asian snagged the dog tag from Ash's hand, allowing Ash to raise the other arm. "Uh un. Not yet." Startled, Ash kept his arm by his back. That's when the Asian pulled out a revolver from under the skirt. Hopefully, no one was thinking that she was excited to meet a young man in these parts. Anyway, she handed the revolver to Ash who brought it to the front. The Asian removed the gun from his back. It was a forced trade. Ashley sighed in relief as Ash turned to meet the Asian.

"You wouldn't be that other rat Ramon was talking about, would you?" he questioned. She scoffed the notion of being a "rat" per say. She also noticed that Ash's arms were still raised.

"You can rest your arms." Relieved to hear that, Ash collapsed the arms for rest. "To be labeled as a rat by that pipsqueak is offensive. I believe you're a friend of that brunette that I saved from Mendez." A friend? Didn't Ash get done talking about Gary and Paul being rivals, not friends?

"Can't really say he's a friend. We were rivals before." Even that clarification didn't defog the Asian's curiosity. Speaking of curiosity... "Can I ask who you are?" The Asian stripped...her sunglasses, revealing brown eyes.

"Ada Wong. You'll have to excuse me." Without another word, Ada dashed off outside. She left the Ashes wondering what that was all about. It seemed like a random encounter for an exchange.

"Why would she want the dog tag for?" Ashley wondered. All Ash could do was shrug his shoulders in confusion. They continued through the castle where fates interconnected. Okay, just teammates. Paul and the Ashes were on a collision course should they have been running. As soon as Paul emerged from one corner...

"Paul!" Ash called out. It was the last thing Paul would've wanted. Nevertheless, he turned to spot the duo. It had been a little while since they were together.

"You're still alive, huh?" he snorted. "I should have expected you to be standing after all the chaos in here." Ash huffed a giggle, no big deal to him.

"You're telling me. I heard from that small fry that you called him deplorable. So, you find anything on your end?" A groaning huff told Ash that there was nothing of value during his search.

"Just knowing you keeping that promise alive. What about you?" Ash decided to tell Paul about extra help.

"Seems we have more help than what Saddler was bargaining for. Ada helped Gary out with the Big Cheese. That and she gave me this in exchange for Leon's dog tag." He showed the revolver to Paul. Like Paul's gonna care about a little weapon? That's when he saw the gun, rather intrigued.

"That's a gun! That revolver packs a bigger punch than the handgun that Oak boy has." Paul surely knew his way around weapons.

"You don't say." He just did. He pulled out a stack of black ammunition cases with "MAGNUM" on the label.

"These magnums will work with that revolver and it can deliver better accuracy. You may need these in case you run out of shotgun shells." A warning. Paul was showing himself as less of a prick than when the story began. Why? Was he impressed with how Ash had been able to keep him and Ashley alive? Or was it that Ashley was around and didn't want to upset her?

"You need to get somewhere?" she asked. It wasn't that Paul wanted to go somewhere. Paul didn't appreciate Ash.

"Just wanted to make sure he doesn't screw up down the road." To Ash, Paul wanted to remain the solo man to clear paths. Evidence turned Ash to find another big man with big claws...just scattered all over the adjacent room. Paul was busy. "You'd be surprised what a rocket propelled grenade can annihilate." The Ashes could respond with nods and nothing else.

"Paul, I could use you as backup," Ash wished. "I'm sure your skills could be supportive." Paul pondered. Go with the pathetic trainer or go alone? He was doing fine on his own.

"Unless you can show me intrigue, I'm never joining you." On that word, he walked off. Ash should just give up on recruiting him. The Ashes pressed on when another door opened. Gary and Luis emerged. This was good news.

"Ash!" an excited Oak roared. The Ashes got to Gary, also happy to see he's in good shape. Luis spotted Ash and Ashley, figuring that Ash kept his word.

"Good work, Ash!" he grinned. In his hand, a vial filled with a purple liquid. "Hey, you're not gonna believe this..." Ash twisted his head to the ex-cop. "I found the sample of the plagas!" An antidote to the parasites? STAB! Luis felt something sharp hit his back and froze. Without warning... SPLAT! A giant scorpion tail pierced all the way through Luis. Yikes! The tail hoisted Luis in the horror of the younger group.

"Luis!" Gary cried out. Luis lost his grip on the vial. There to catch it was Saddler, forcing Ash to draw his new toy. The tail which came out of Saddler slammed Luis to the floor hard as if the skewer wasn't enough to endure. Ash and Gary raced to Luis' aid.

"Now that I have the sample, you serve me no purpose," Saddler scowled. "My boy, Salazar will dispose of you soon enough." He began to walk off. Ash wanted to put a bullet into Saddler but figured Luis needed help more than Saddler with a magnum to the mind. Holstering his weapon, the focus was the dying Spaniard.

"Hang on, Luis!" Ash tried to ease Luis but the wound was too great.

"I became a researcher after I...retired my badge," he weakly muttered. "Saddler...he hired me after he studied my discoveries." The blood pool was coating the ground in crimson red. "Gary has the medicine which...should suppress the parasites' growth. You need...to get that sample...back from Saddler..." His head slumped into the pool with eyes wide open. He moved no longer. Ashley clutched Pikachu hard in fear, embracing his face into her figures to prevent the young eyes of the Electric Mouse Pokémon. Gary bowed his head, not wanting to see the dead man who moments ago helped find the sample. Ash put his hand over Luis' eyes, closing them.

"_Lo siento, amigo mío."_ Ash and the rivals were now down one man. Who could be next?

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	9. Lucha Acérrimo Rival

_Chapter 9: Lucha Acérrimo Rival_

* * *

><p>Sorrow. Ash, Gary, Ashley and Pikachu felt helpless as they eyed the body of someone who was helping them. Saddler killed Luis as he tried to provide a sample to hand to the Ashes. It also turned out that Luis was helping Saddler with the parasitic experiments when Luis discovered Saddler's plans. He revolted and was found by the rivals. Now, the rivals were down an ally and Ash and Gary had discovered more about Saddler. Paul entered the frame, spotting glum on the faces of those who saw someone die in front of their faces. "This is a new mood for me to see you in," he callously noticed. He didn't know the reason. Question: would he care? "What happened to put you in this sorry state?" Ashley would answer that.<p>

"It's Luis," she said with a hint of sorrow in her eyes and voice. "Saddler killed him." Paul turned to where Luis lied. As cold as ice, Paul made no emotion.

"One less baggage to carry around." The others couldn't believe the cold reaction from Paul. It was as if his heart, should he have any, was worse than Salazar or Saddler if not combined. So much so, Gary was deeply offended. He was with Luis until he was killed.

"He helped us!" he roared back. "Or did you forget back in that cabin when we were surrounded by those villagers?" Paul wasn't one for backtalk and drew his weapon back at the Oak who replied with drawing his own. Ashley got up in protest of these two fighting at a time like this.

"That's enough, you two!" she yelled. "We're already frustrated with Saddler's sick games. You don't need to fuel that fire he's got going!" Even Pikachu was calling for them to calm down but they were ready to put a bullet into each other.

"Back off, Princess!" Paul snorted. "This is between me and this pathetic excuse of a trainer."

"I'm pathetic?" Gary snapped. "Have you looked in a mirror recently? Perhaps you're the one who's pathetic!" Paul seethed, the finger ready to pull the trigger and stop Gary's mouth. Ashley turned to Ash to see if he could put an end to this fiasco.

"Ash, you know these two more than I do," she pleaded for the reduction of bloodshed. "You stop them!" It was ever since Team Rocket dug that hole that Gary and Paul were at each one's throats. Only now it had reached a boiling point. Ash could stop these two from killing each other or he could let these two cap themselves and have two less rivals to worry about. Before Ash could even twitch... both rivals lowered their armed arms. They weren't going to waste a bullet for or on each other.

"As pathetic as you are, even you don't deserve a round to the skull," he slightly growled.

"That makes two of us," Gary agreed. "However, that doesn't mean you'll be walking away without a bruise or two." Paul's eyebrow twitched up. Gary was about to live up to his word because here he came with a fist. WHIFF! Paul leaned back, watching Gary's punch fade off and his balance. Paul chose to counter with a knee to the gut. POOF! Ouch, that had to hurt. Gary doubled over and clutched his stomach. Shaking off the shot, he rose and landed an uppercut to Paul's cheek. Paul did not appreciate that. He lunged to a clothesline but Gary ducked the blow and spun an elbow, catching the violet-haired boy in the ribs. Paul staggered, grabbing at the ribs. Both traded punches and kicks for a good few minutes. Bruises were forming, blood was gashing out and there's no doubt broken bones were on the rise, all while their eyes were crimson red and Ashley was starting to freak that the two were really going to kill one or the other.

"Stop it right now!" she pleaded. The two were bodily messes. They were also breathing pretty heavily. They threw one more punch, catching each other in the jaw. They both collapsed in pain and exhaustion. Still, they gazed at each other murderously. Finally, Ash got off his seat and glared both downed trainers.

"It's ironic," he sighed with a frown. "You two are Pokémon trainers and you do battle without a Pokémon. That's like if I was a police officer and I was without a badge." The analogy was rather off base but it was the principle of the matter. To Ash, the attitude and behavior between Gary and Paul were poor to say the least. They stared at Ash but what could they argue? It was all done right in front of the Ashes. Suddenly, there was a buzz. Salazar had to be calling and Ash was there to answer. A laugh was the first thing to come over the speaker. "I take it you enjoyed that little show?" Before Salazar could answer him...

"What show?" the fighters scowled, startling those on the line. Ash had a simple answer for their yell.

"The show Ramon was watching."

"And yes, I did enjoy it," Salazar replied. "I always enjoy teammates scuffling among each other for...petty, trivial reasons. I'm just calling to make sure your actors are ready for another round. Spain doesn't have the luxury to have mixed martial arts, let alone in Barcelona where they had the 1992 Summer Olympics." He's part of Saddler's clan and he's a historian. How nice.

"Well, I appreciate the little history lesson. What's next, you want a little romance? 'Cause I don't think I'd fit the role." More laughter from Salazar had to mean he was enthralled with this conversation.

"No, no, you're fine being my action star. As a matter of fact, my next role for you begins now." The spray of fire alerted Ash over to the next area. Ash disconnected the line before turning to Ashley.

"Get treatment for their injuries. I'm gonna scope out the area." Before Ashley could react, Ash and Pikachu ditched the others and hopped on a wheeled platform, carrying them to another room. There, statues of dragons spewing flames awed the trainer. The land below was flooded with what seemed to be liquid fire, lava of sorts. Ash dashed his way past the fires and used the magnum bullets to knock the operators from their controls. Knocking down the operators soon stopped the statue from moving which broke from hanging chains into the fire water below. Some of the cloaks who pursued Ash ended up saving his ammo by being burnt to a crisp. A chest appeared where Ash got an ornament with a lion on it. Task completed, he returned to the group who were back on their feet. "You guys okay to move on?"

"They should," Ashley groaned. "They really beat themselves up good. I can't really do anything about injured ribs but-"

"We're fine!" Paul snapped as he yanked his arm from Ashley. "Let's just get going." Someone was in a big hurry. With Gary and Paul up and about, no doubt not quite 100%, the group pressed on and boarded a roller coaster-like car. One seat had Ash and Gary while the other had Ashley and Paul. The car rode around the castle before it stopped at a new section. Getting off the cart, the gang moved on to where there was a mural. The mural was missing pieces. One shape caught Ash by surprise. He removed the ornament he picked up in the room of fire and inserted it to the mural. It fit. But the mural still looked incomplete.

"Looks like we're down a couple of pieces," he stated the obvious. That's when Paul brought out a little surprise to Ash: two ornaments. One was the head of a dragon while the other appeared to be a snake.

"While you were busy playing bodyguard, I did some snooping around. Thought this could be of use." Can you blame him? She's the president's daughter for crying out loud. Ash inserted the snake as a tail and the dragon near the lion. It was a key which opened a door and pressed the adventure on. Through a hall of armored statues, they made it to a circular room with a gold grail in the middle. Ash could go after it...but no, he didn't give it a second look. Ashley could snatch it...or not. Come on, it could help knock a couple million from the national debt. Paul...right, like he cares for treasures. Gary?

"I wonder how much this is to the arms dealer?" he wondered as he reached for it. Pikachu saw what Gary was going for, not wanting to know the results.

("Gary, don't!") it squeaked loudly but Gary snatched it from the pedestal. As he was checking it out, walls spun around, revealing more armored statues...and they were moving like they were alive with those swords wielding. Paul took action.

"Magmortar, stand by for battle!" he summoned his Pokémon. "Flamethrower!" Magmortar scorched the living daylights out of the haunting knights. After a few minutes, the armored hostiles were down and crispy. A door suddenly opened and Paul recalled Magmortar. "That was something I see Ash doing. Stop being ever so predictable." Gary seethed at Paul, both still lingering from their fight. Nevertheless, they had to press on. Before long, the four had a surprise ahead of them: Salazar.

"This is repulsive," he snarled. "I have the one who's disrespected me and the one I have had fun talking to. However, I would love to see you a little...thinner than you are right now." A snap of the fingers and the ceiling had spikes. That's when the ceiling was falling, ready to crush the heroes as Salazar scuttled away. Ash pulled out...coins? Well, they were useful against Garrador. He flicked the coins at the red lights, thinking that would stop the ceiling from caving in. All four blinking lights were out and the ceiling stopped. That was the good news and the group continued on when a gate fell on a path, splitting Gary and Paul from the Ashes. That's when a drill ripped down a wall and was coming right at them. Ash knew what to do. He had to do it fast because the drill was coming.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt, now!" Ash ordered. Pikachu fired it's Thunderbolt, electrocuting the two on the riding drill...and the engine that ran it. KABOOM! No more drill and no more cloaks. The gate lifted and the journey engaged to a bigger gate. On each side were statues of two people with their hands open. Gary reached for the grail that was booby-trapped and Ashley had another. Did they know about this puzzle? Apparently because the gate opened up. A moment later, the group stumbled upon something hideous: a deformed, mutating stalagmite. Gible was impatient and exited his Pokéball, much to Ash's surprise. "Gible?" Gible looked up at the stalagmite...and it had an idea. It backtracked and pulled a door from a drawer and stuck the door into the stalagmite, giving Ash a theory. "You're not planning on Draco Meteor, are you?" Instead of agreeing by words, Gible clamped down on the door and fed it the dragon energy which bled into the stalagmite, worrying Ashley.

"We should clear the room," she cautioned. All agreed and the group let Gible do it's magic. KABANG! The room blew up! After the shaking was through, the four checked the room and Gible was rejoining them, fit as a fiddle. Not harmed at all.

"Ash, your Gible is scary when it uses Draco Meteor like that," Gary summed up.

"Oh, yeah..." Ashley backed. Then, Pikachu's ears were twitching. Trouble.

("Incoming!") he squeaked. Everyone turned to spot gigantic flies. Pest control out of Saddler's price range? Or was it a plan? Two of the flies tackled the young men while another scooped Ashley. Bad! Ashley let out a scream as the boys kicked the bugs off. Ash turned to the abducted girl but he knew he was helpless. A surprise attack worked to perfection.

"Ashley!" he cried out. Before they could give chase, more flies surrounded the boys. A swarm. The trainers had the firepower to squirt past this bunch. Could they save Ashley?

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	10. Riding Metro

A/N: I'll be passing all of the Krauser moments to save time. I apologize for the inconvenience.

_Chapter 10: Riding Metro_

This was certainly bugging the rivals...literally! Mutated flies surrounded the three while one more kidnapped Ashley. One charged at Ash but Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt, the flash of electricity raging through the beast. The super insect blew to pieces. "Nice shot, Pikachu!" Ash praised. Paul grabbed something from his belongings as one more raced in. It was...a spray can? He sprayed the contents onto the face of the fly. The fly's face was coated in a foamy substance, stinging the eyes and blinding it. BAM! Flew right into a wall. It collapsed and twitched before stopping every part of it's hideous body. The other flies saw what the spray did and flew off. That was quick. Gary spotted the can and quickly figured why the bugs bugged off.

"Bug spray?" he pointed out. Of all the weapons in their arsenal, one resorted to a household product? Needless to say how effective it was.

"Found it in the village," Paul informed the location of the bug spray. He holstered the canister before Ash pulled a lever which a drawbridge fell...slightly. The chains held the bridge up. Gary shot the wooden supports, making the drawbridge fall. They began the pursuit of Ashley. They found themselves back outside where a bridge linked the path to another tower and that's when the phone rang. Ash answered it.

"I have to apologize, Mr. Ketchum," Salazar mocked. "I've missed seeing you work your magic that taking the president's daughter seemed necessary."

"Don't think for a second you've got us trapped to a corner!" Ash warned.

"Trapped? My trap hasn't sprung yet...but it might not if you don't meet me alive. Besides, I can see you three." It was a taunt. Ash spotted another bridge to another tower...with Salazar and a bunch of hoods escorting Ashley. She was in trouble as they all entered that tower.

"So that's the game you want to play. Alright then...I'm ready." Ash was ready to get going when Paul snagged his shoulder.

"Slow down," he advised. Ash turned to the bitter one to see what he had to say. "I smell gasoline. It's the same smell as the catapults." More catapults? "Allow me. Frostlass, stand by for battle!" A Pokéball opened where a white ghost with a face somewhat covered in tiny icicles appeared. "Use Icy Wind to cripple the catapults!" Frostlass vanished and reappeared, blowing ice onto the ropes used to help fling the ammo. Frostlass regrouped with the rivals and Paul recalled the creature. "There we go." Safe, or so it seemed, the rivals darted on the bridge where the cloaks tried to shoot the catapults. The catapults' ropes broke into shards and...KABLAM! Well, so much for the threat. Every catapult was destroyed. After crossing, Ash and Gary entered the tower...a clock tower as. Also, Paul guarded the door. All sorts of gears and mechanisms to have this clock tower to work...only marred by 2X4 plywood fixed onto the gears. Someone wanted to hinder the boys' progress.

"I'll take care of the wood. It's been a little while since I climbed something." Ash wasn't serious, was he? He leaped onto the gears and began swinging around the gears like a monkey. Perched on Gary's shoulder, Pikachu watched Ash climb from gear to sprocket. It may be Ash but seeing this, Gary couldn't grasp Ash's grasp in the literal sense.

"Did his mom raise a baby boy or a Mankey?" Gary joked. Ash kicked off the 2X4 wood from each gear before climbing back to meet Gary and Pikachu.

"That should be all of them." Gary had the look of disgust.

"You could have sent Infernape to do the job." Ash wasn't worried about Gary's retort than he was about Ashley's safety.

"Let's just hit the switch." Gary climbed the ladders and jerked the lever. The bridge disconnected from one tower and linked onto the targeting tower, the one Salazar took Ashley. They exited the tower and regrouped with Paul for all three boys to charge the bridge. Entering that, Ash's nightmare somewhat relived. Two more men in iron masks. Ash dealt with one in the past. Let's see about two. "Don't make a sound. I got this." Paul was rather skeptical about Ash wanting to take care of the two men with the giant claws.

"You've fought these two before?" Paul whispered. Somewhat lying, Ash nodded. The cloaks weren't as quiet.

"_Son ellos!"_ one cloak stupidly alerted. The clawed two attacked the sound and the boys got squeamish. Needless to say that the voice was silenced.

"_¡Hermano!" _the other cloak freaked out. The boys didn't want to look as the other was slaughtered. Ash walked up, squirting in the space between the two claws. He was aware that noise would alert the two claws. How about a little trick?

"Nice work!" Ash complimented, making the Garradors turn to the new voice...and cringing the rivals. "Guess a decapitation wasn't enough, huh?" The Garradors raced at each other with Ash patiently waiting in the center. He wanted to time this perfectly. Both thrust their claws. SLASH! SPLAT! The Garradors pierced every blade...into each other...and Ash was just a couple steps back. The Garradors stood before falling dead on the floor. Studying, Gary and Paul realized that Ash put himself in between to make both fight and kill by sound. Go figure.

"Did I mention how much I regret mocking Ash for his thinking outside the box?" Gary mulled. Paul appeared to have had enough of Gary's complaining...but did agree about Ash's quick tactic.

"It's people like him that tend to worry me the most," he groaned. Ash had gone ahead where Ashley was held by blades wielded by two giant cloaks.

"Okay, that look definitely doesn't suit you," he teased. Ashley turned to view Ash, just as fine as ever.

"Well, get these guys off me if it means anything," she argued. Ash proceeded when an all too familiar laugh caught his attention. Salazar...

"Mr. Ketchum, I've enjoyed your humor while talking to you," he snickered. "A hell of a lot more than that...rival that mocks my size. However, I must end this relationship before I become a traitor to Saddler." That's when Salazar hit a button and the floor collapsed, making Ash plummet down the pit.

"ASH!" Ashley cried out. Ash was falling down a chute and there appeared to be danger below...like a pit of spikes! The spikes were so long that they would even pierce the giants through and through. Out of nowhere, Ash began emitting a veil of blue, coating his body. The plummet's speed reduced greatly and reaching the bottom, Ash's body turned upright from the back-first fall and softly landed in between the steel pins. This was a fortunate moment. Salazar saw the fall but anxious to hear something grusome.

"Strange...where's the sound of impalement?" Ash wasn't sure how he survived. Hearing Salazar, Ash felt some betrayal. The two were getting along just fine.

"I've heard of backstabbing but that's...a bit much," he responded. Gary and Paul entered the room, eavesdropping on the quick chat. Salazar saw the two, still biting the callousness of Paul.

"I see that you finally got rid of that Pallet chump," he coldly sneered. Salazar wasn't in the mood to hear him, even if that was a cold compliment.

"You should die for the offense I'm still hearing from your beak!" he scowled. "Kill them! We'll be taking the daughter somewhere else. The ritual is about to start." A ritual? The red cloak pointed the spear at Paul and Gary as the black shoved Ashley to pursue Salazar.

"Ash, please stay safe," Ashley wished. Ash found a path where there may be a way back up. The phone rang, Salazar on the other side, a little more calm now that he wasn't facing Paul.

"How did you survive that fall onto the spikes below? You didn't appear to carry any equipment meant to stop that dive." Ash wasn't sure how to explain the power he had.

"To be honest, I'm not sure how my aura works or behaves," he shrugged. "It just happens."

"I find that hard to believe, though this...'aura' sounds intriguing. If it can relieve you, I did escort the daughter away from...bloodshed as I sent my right hand to dispose of that...prick." Ash began to wonder if Gary and Paul would be okay. Surprised that Ash had a heart for Paul, despite how much he's shown back.

"I guess when he's done with those two, he'll come after me?"

"Precisely. He is hard to stop." Ash and Salazar hung up with the trainer pulling ahead. Proceeding on with Pikachu, Ash toured the sewers but not before the horrifying screams, looking back. The red cloak was falling. SPLAT! The red cloak became a human pin cushion. He won't be getting up anytime soon.

"Should I call him back?" Pikachu shook no. Yeah, let Salazar sweat it out. They made their way into the engine room. Something was creeping up behind them as they flipped a switch, activating elevators. That's when a hideous popped up. A black scorpion humanoid jumped out of nowhere and roared at Ash and Pikachu. Ash was startled until a canister caught his attention. He whipped out the revolver and shot while leaping backwards as the thing lunged for them. The shot. SPRAY! A blast of chemicals produced a whitish cloud. The thing was absorbed in the cloud and froze. Sticking the landing, Ash fired again, the bullet ripping through the thing which broke into many pieces. That's another one down. The cult's losing members left and right. That's when the elevator came. The car came from below but Ash hopped on, hoping to get back on track in retaining Ashley...and regrouping with his rivals. They were now in a mine. Swift as the wind, Ash squirted passed the villagers who hung around. He flipped a lever where a mine cart came by. It reached the end of the track. Ash hopped on board to see a pile of dynamite sticks taped together.

("That's a lot of boom,") Pikachu noted. Ash looked around and saw another door, partially blocked by rocky debris. Lighting the fuse, he hurled the sticks at the pile...with some villagers nearby. KABOOM! The pile was gone and so were some village idiots. Ash hopped out and entered the door before anyone was the wiser. The next room was hot...temperature wise.

"Man, I don't think we can stay here for long." Ash was standing on grids over what appeared to be lava. That wasn't the only problem. Two giants emerged. How many giants did Saddler have in store? These were numbers three and four. "Not exactly what I mean." Ash raced ahead going under one giant and another chased it, dumbly colliding into it's tag team partner. Both fell onto the center of the room, no doubt getting burned from the heated steel. Ash saw and raced toward a control switch and before one got up, he flipped the switch. "Let's hope this does something." He yanked the lever, opening the center and dropping the two into the lava below. One giant tried to swim out, all of it's skin melted off and it's skeletal structure reaching for something to pull itself up. Vain. The skeletal hand sunk back below the lava. Ash made that relatively easy. "Guess it's true what they say: Two heads aren't always better than one." Pikachu would agree to that with an exception.

("What about Doduo or Dodrio?") The two carried on, heading into another cavern full of mutated flies. There was but one option: run!

"And me without bug spray!" Ash and Pikachu sprinted with a swarm of the giant frog lunches trailing them. They reached the top of the cavern. To Ash, this was convenient. "Oh, well. I remember that Fire Pokémon are super effective against bugs. Infernape, I choose you!" Ash released his fire monkey who seemed eager to act.

("Ready, Ash!") the ape grinned.

"Flamethrower!" Infernape let loose a stream of fire which scorched the flies effortlessly. That was easy once again. One of the flies barreled into the door behind them, leaving a dent on the steel blockade. The flies were now cinders. The flies all gone, Ash reached for the door and using the strength from the parasite, opened it to see a gauntlet of hammers ready to flatten anyone who came across. One misstep and they could be as flat as paper. Worse, more flies were chasing. "Let's move." With the Pokémon in tow, Ash dashed as the lead. He ran directly under the hammers while the flies weren't as lucky. If getting hit with a flyswatter was bad, these hammers were just as deadly. None of the flies could reach the elusive boy. He arrived at a makeshift stone bed with a crucifix on it. The crucifix had a ruby in the center. He snagged it before the bed rose. It was an elevator.

("I'm getting a bit tired of all that Los Illuminados are offering in this castle,") Pikachu groaned. Ash understood his little Pokémon but they had to deal with it.

"You know, this was one of those occasions where I would've expected you dead," sounded Paul. Ash and the Pokémon spun heads to see the oncoming purple-haired rival.

"Now you know how I feel about Team Rocket," Ash huffed. "So...Gary ran off ahead, huh?"

"Yeah, saying something about chasing a red dress, whatever he had in mind. I could care less about his agenda." Gary's chasing Ada? That's a twist. Ash and Paul found a passage leading back underground. "Try and keep up." All Ash could do with shrug.

"Always~." Their partnership was about to be tested as both hopped onto a mine cart train. Paul was in the front car while Ash remained in the rear.

"I'll tag those in front! You can have the stragglers!" Paul wanted to have all the fun. Using a handgun, Paul shot the lever which pushed it from red to green. The cart was moving. The ride led the rivals through tunnels. Villagers were spotted lining up to stowaway on the carts to kill the kids. Using their firearms, none of the rivals had a chance as they were shot yards away and ended up falling below the tracks. The carts picked up speed. Ash leaped from the back car to the middle, much to Paul's chagrin. "What are you doing?"

"Easy! Trying not to hit you!" The cart then stopped by a wide area. A wide assortment of villagers were ready to storm the two. Paul and Ash unloaded their ammo onto them. "Cover me! I'll get the switch!" Paul growled at Ash making orders.

"Oh, no! You listen to me! Take care of the switch!" That's what Ash said. Maybe he got upset that Ash made the order. Was there a reason for a repeat? Ash jumped onto the platform and blasted away the villagers before pulling the switch. It was about to move again and Ash hurried back to the carts which began to run. The boys continued to take down the villagers even as the cart was gaining speed.

"Oh boy!" There was a good reason for that bit of panic: cliff! The carts rolled right off the end of the tracks and fell into the sea below...but what about Ash, Paul and Pikachu? Did they fall too?

CONTINUARÁ...


	11. La Muerte de Ramón Salazar

_Chapter 11: La Muerte de Ramón Salazar_

* * *

><p>The steel cart sunk to the bottom of the sea after Ash and Paul's wild ride. But while the cart sunk to Davy Jones' Locker Room, Pikachu recovered on the other side of the gap. In the slow motion replay, Ash and Paul snagged fallen hatchets before the cart left the tracks. The boys leaped from the rim of the cart and within reach due to the cart's momentum, Pikachu leaped off of Ash and landed hard on the other side. Pikachu looked down to see Ash and Paul using the farming tools to stay on the side of the cliff. ("You two okay?") Pikachu squeaked in concern.<p>

"We're hanging around, Pikachu!" Ash punned, disgusting Paul.

"Really?" he spat. "You want to joke about our cliffhanging situation?" Well, who knew Paul was trying to be funny? Ash climbed back up before reaching and assisting Paul. "Remind me that this is the first and _only _adventure I have with you, let alone all of them." Paul didn't like all this hardcore action? He had the hardcore, venomous attitude.

"Most of them won't be alive if you reconsider." Walking down a lit tunnel, there was a decorative tablet which Paul took. A portion of an adjacent wall collapsed, allowing the two to press on. They exited the tunnel and found a building further up the cliff only to enter. "I'll admit...considering our history, I never would imagine you as a person that enjoys peace and quiet." Paul darted his scowl away from the chipper boy from Pallet.

"Perhaps when guys like you and Barry aren't disrupting me. And besides, I think you're enjoying this trip away from the Pokémon World. All I know, you wanted to get away from Team Rocket." Ash never frowned on the notion of the people who sent the rivals into this hellhole. They entered the foyer where there was a sight for sore eyes...that want to stay sore. A giant statue of Salazar.

"At least they're far nicer than him. They aren't trying to kill us." Not like the cloaks. Ash ran toward the Salazar statue as Paul shot the cloaks back. The Mankey was back to work as he crawled to the back of the statue, flipping switches and levers. Pikachu was electrocuting the cloaks back. Flipping the last lever, Ash returned to Paul with more cloaks on their tails. However, they weren't the only ones. The statue was moving! The statue broke from it's pedestal and pursued everyone. Ash whipped out the revolver and shot apart the lock on a door leading to the outside. Everyone got out through the door.

"_¡Corre!"_a cloak shrieked as the statue burst through the wall. One tiny bridge, a dozen cloaks, two kids and a statue...not a good recipe. Ash dropped a flash grenade which blew up behind the two and blinded the cloaks. They couldn't have picked a worst time to stop. The statue tripped and fell onto the bridge, destroying it and crushing those still seeing a light...and not the good kind. The bridge was gone...but not those trainers. They were safe.

"That was pretty unnerving." Hearing that from Ash told Paul that he was a bit scared.

"Toughen up!" he huffed. "It only gets worse from here on out." Ash couldn't wait for what could be worse than the statue. Paul was on his way into the upcoming tower.

"Yep, he's enjoying himself." Pikachu wasn't too sure it was the case.

("Maybe he's homesick,") he theorized. They pursued Paul into the tower where an applaud echoed. It was Salazar. He had his remaining giant cloak by his side.

"Welcome," he greeted. "It's so nice for you two to join us. Though, I should scrutinize the likes of you, Mr. Paul. You see, the sacred rite that's about to begin and this tower shall endow the girl with magnificent powers. She will join us; become one of us!" Ash was a tad hindered. He couldn't afford to lose Ashley to the slime of the parasite.

"I'm surprised you would choose her instead of me," he offered. "I'd be more compatible for this rite." Salazar shook no.

"I appreciate your volunteering support, Mr. Ketchum. However, we need a female to perfect the rite, a symbolic marriage." That's why they needed Ashley, a symbolism? "But don't fret. I've prepared a ritual just for him." The point to Paul fueled his anger as he threw the hatchet he kept. SPLAT! The blade pierced into Salazar's hand...and Salazar got terrorized in a hurry, feeling the excruciating pain from the hatchet. It's a surprise that the hand didn't come off. The giant removed the hatchet and flung it back at Paul who ducked clear. The giant escorted Salazar into an elevator which rose to clear the scene. "Kill him!" The cloaks entered in droves, forcing Ash and Paul to arm themselves. Paul wanted this mess all alone.

"Get Ashley!" he roared to Ash. Ash didn't need a second to think and began climbing staircases, shooting those in his way. Paul gunned down those on his level. With Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash arrived at a lift and activated it while his little Pokémon shoved the boxes off, crushing some of the cloaks attacking Paul. When the lift stopped at it's limit, the two moved their legs. Reaching a new door, they found an observatory which Salazar stood in anticipation.

"Well, my best friend has found his way up here...but you're a couple minutes late. I've finished the ritual and she's being escorted to be with our leader, Saddler." Ash growled. He was too slow!

"That's just lovely," he scolded. "And to think, we were getting so well along." Salazar began walking up steps to the top with eerie pink flame shooting out from the goblets.

"I think it's time I pay my due respect to your undying but stubborn will!" Tentacles shot out from behind Salazar and wrapped him and the giant cloak. "Mr. Ketchum, welcome...to death!" The tentacles retracted and "fed" the two to bulbs protruding from the wall. Ash wasn't liking the problem. It was about to get more hideous. A huge skull attached to vines appeared from the wall with red eyes and a disfigured jaw like some of the parasites before. It hissed at Ash and Pikachu who needed to act. Behind it was an obscured and deformed version of who Ash had been chatting with for a long time since losing contact with Ingrid. Then again, it was holding Ashley away from them so it pretty much evened out.

"I hate to do this to a friend but...it's time we parted ways." Not so fast. A heavy gate fell behind Ash. Trapped. It's only got worse. Vines wrapped and ensnared Ash, lifting him away from his Pokémon pal.

("Ash!") Pikachu wailed in concern, and good reason. The vines were squeezing Ash from the waist.

"_**What a pity this is,"**_ Salazar moaned. **_"All of your hard work and for what? A painful, crushing death!" _**Ash needed help...but his blue veil came back, revealing a grin. Salazar wasn't sure what to think here. _**"Are you accepting death? You kids seem to take everything in stride! No matter. Soon, I'll rid your rivals. At least your afterlife will be...more peaceful that way."**_ Ash wasn't afraid of him any longer.

"Not quite that," he continued to grin. "You just happen to be like the gym leaders back home: underestimating me!" He swung his glowing hand which smashed into the vine which combusted. Salazar's paining scream sounded like a bunch of women in horror movies all at the same time. Ash fell to the pit below and needed to get out. Spend all the time in the world. Gary returned.

"Allow me!" he called down as he pulled the trigger to the RPG he had. It hit the body of Salazar, blowing him to smithereens. The skull collapsed onto the platform, dead from the loss of it's "heart" that was Ramon Salazar. Ash climbed back to see his old rival...who was less than happy with how it handled himself with Salazar. "Once again, you put yourself in danger without any thought of others. Man, what do you think I have to tell your mom if you did bite the dust?" All Ash did was smile. He had a retort.

"The same thing I would tell Reggie and Prof. Oak if anything happened to you or Paul." Gary just sighed like he didn't get the idea. We're pretty sure he did. "So, any luck with Ada?"

"Yeah, she did supply me with the RPG I used and told me about other moments with Leon. Also, she spotted Saddler on an island a couple of miles from here." Knowing Saddler's location, Ash pondered Ashley's dilemma.

"That's where they took Ashley. Let's regroup with her." Straightforward but Gary wanted to remind Ash of Paul again.

"What about..."

"Paul? I'm pretty sure he'll be with her." Ash passed through the door, leaving Gary to wonder if he even had a plan on how to deal with Saddler and rescue Ashley. Nevertheless, he followed down the tower to a garage with a boat idling. Ada and Paul, like Ash predicted, were there.

"Shorty?" Paul questioned. Ash acted a throat slash, indicating that Ramon was no more. "Good." Ada hopped into the driver seat.

"You boys need a ride?" she asked. Nice gesture. Ash nodded.

"At least you didn't stick your gun to my back like last time," he remembered. He and the other boys hopped on for the ride on the boat. At least there weren't so many spears like before...like none. "Why help us, Ada?"

"Leon was a good man, always believing in justice back in Raccoon City. I should know because I helped him during the outbreak in the city back in the US. Since the villagers looked more stable than the citizens affected by the T-Virus, which could explain why Leon was killed so easily. It's rather ironic that little children are doing a grown man's line of work." Something that shouldn't have come to this point if not for Team Rocket and Gary was ready to chew at him about it.

"Well, if Team Rocket hadn't stopped digging, we wouldn't be hunting down the president's daughter," he pointed out. Obvious enough.

"I think the moment Ash acquire his old voice from back in Hoenn, everything has been working for us up to now," Paul added. Well, just about. They couldn't stop the flies from taking Ashley. There was an island fast approaching. This had to be the island where Saddler had Ashley. Parking by the side of the island, Ada whipped out a gun fitted with a grappling hook.

"Sorry, boys," she apologized. "I have some business to attend. Later!" She hooked herself up the mountainside and Gary had a good look at her as she flew up...and the others saw the passionate smirk on his grill.

"Now that is a fine piece of tail," he complimented. Gary's a guy. Let him have an opinion or two. Paul groaned at his...assessment of Ada.

"That would be something I'd expect from him," he pointed to Ash. Why Ash? Did he have a preference with women? "Considering that he hangs out with that lecturer of a breeder." That's when he switched his look of envy to inquiry. "Do you...have a preference when it comes to the opposite sex?" Ash didn't think for a second on that question.

"No, should I?" he asked. Gary shook his head to say nothing wrong with no real preference. "The way I see it, if I'm liked by someone, I'm liked. If loved by someone, I'm loved. If hated..." He stopped and remembered that these two were rivals, nowhere close to being loved by them. "Get my point?" Gary and Paul didn't realize how philosophical Ash was with women and romance. That's when a call rang in. It couldn't be from Salazar. He's worm meat. Ingrid? "Talk to me." A laughter...a dark laughter flooded the receiver. "Ozzy..."

"Oh, don't try to flatter me," he murmured. "I am not that so-called 'Prince of Darkness' musician. And I've already learned of Salazar's death. However, you and your friends shouldn't get too confident because you eliminated my...little subordinate."

"Takes one to know one. Keep in mind, we trainers are naturally born strategists. We're already a few moves ahead."

"So you say. Face me if you can. You won't survive long." A challenge. Ash grinned.

"_Es tu funeral!"_ The gauntlet has been thrown down as both hung up. The boys raced ahead. The fate of Ashley Graham was on the line.

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	12. Terror en la Isla de Saddler

_Chapter 12: Terror en la Isla de Saddler_

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><p>The boys, thanks in small part to Ada and their uncooperative teamwork, were on the island where Saddler had taken Ashley. A scare from Paul, a grit from Ash and a well-aimed RPG by Gary ended the eighth castellan of the castle run by the numerous generations. There won't be a ninth. The boys climbed the mountainside and found a tiny fort fitted with spotlights and mounted Gatling guns. "Help!" echoed the only human female on the island. Ashley was carried into a steel door which shut and locked. Ash could rush in and rescue Ashley, but spotting the spotlights forced him back.<p>

"Those spotlights are gonna be a problem," Gary pondered. Ash smiled, knowing what to do with those lights overhead.

"Not unless we use the right strategy," he grinned, causing Paul to moan.

"I suggest you be careful," he warned. Ash believed that Paul was advising what Pokémon to use in order to dim the field.

"I know. If Staraptor gets caught in the spotlights, I'll need to act in order to save him." Unfortunately for Ash, that wasn't what Paul was referring to.

"I meant your unorthodox style. When I face you in the Sinnoh Tournament, I could be using your style against you." Guess it didn't really help that being together with Gary and Paul would expose Ash to his style of Pokémon battle.

"That's called getting a taste of your own medicine," Gary added. Though Paul despised Gary's tone, he did agree with him on that extent. Ash released Staraptor and presented a knife. No doubt it was from Leon.

"There's more than one way to skin a Delcatty," he huffed, not concerned with Paul's retort. "Staraptor, use this knife to cut the wires on the spotlights. The rubber hilt will keep you from getting electrocuted." Staraptor flew off, staying clear of the cones emitting the locations under the spotlights. SNIP! SNIP! SNIP! Staraptor broke the wires from the head to the pole of each spotlight, shutting the lights from the towering lamps. Staraptor returned, knife in talons which it handed to Ash. "Great work! Return!" Returning Staraptor to it's ball, the boys pressed on. Villagers were left in the dark, literally, about the boys as they managed to open the gates. There were some more lights available but what they faced were more villagers, some with batons that emitted electricity.

"Split!" Paul yelled, causing all to go separate paths. Each one was faced with numerous villagers who tried to halt their progress. In a daring act, Ash holstered the shotgun and snagged the stun batons away, only to pierce them back at the users. Yanking the batons from the stomachs, the villagers fell dead.

"Oh, yeah. I can work with these." Gary spotted villagers throwing sticks of lit dynamite. A quick draw, Gary sniped the heads of the villagers, revealing the hideous heads of parasites. It dropped the TNT. Not a good idea. KABOOM! Parasite in pieces! Gary shook his head, thinking how pathetic it was for the parasite to simply let a lit stick liken that go down, only to blow up in the face. And we all thought Paul made the 'pathetic' remarks.

"If you're going to use TNT, use it," he groaned. Paul was running and gunning, taking out villagers left and right to where he opened up what seemed to be a pathway...only...

"Welcome," greeted the black hooded seller. "Looks like you're in need of ammunition."

"Yeah, I'm running a bit low on it," he agreed as he brought out a little lamp with different gems in the fitted holes. The seller was astonished with the lamp.

"Ah! I'll buy it at a high price! We can do some trading and leave your associates to deal the damage." Paul accepted the idea and brought out more pieces of treasure. Ash and Pikachu wormed their way through, getting inside and searching around.

"Help!" cried Ashley. Ash knew she was close by. He entered a control room with monitors. It was a ruse. There was Ashley on one of the monitors banging on the doorway. One villager shoved Ashley to the ground. That's when he noticed a security camera with a small flashing red light. He realized that someone could be watching this and ordered his partner to turn off the power to the control room. A few switches later, the monitors were shut off. But it was too late on Ash's part.

"Peek a boo," Ash teased. "I've seen you." Pikachu was ready to find Ashley.

("Let's go find that cell,") it squeaked. Both boys exited and found a garage door which revealed villagers with more dynamite.

"Thunderbolt!" Pikachu fired it's Thunderbolt and hit the stick. BOOM! Both villagers were gone. That's when more villagers entered the scene with crossbows. Shotgun time! BAM! Taking a few shots, the villagers were down dead. The door closed and reopened. One more villager showed up. Ash ran at him, ninja style. Stabbed with the stun stick, the villager was shocked to death. Cleared, Ash pressed on. In a refrigerated room, Ash and Pikachu spotted something: a charcoal gray being. Lying on a bed, the best advice would be to ignore it and move on. In a different room, there was a deceased man with a new parasite, one that looked like a cross between a kite and a spider. It was also frozen dead. "This would creep Misty more than the Bug Pokémon, hands down." Pikachu would believe it.

("I'm easily frightened.") That fright meter was about to sky rocket. Remember that charcoal guy in that other observation room? It was alive! It scented Ash and Pikachu but Ash whipped out that shotgun and blasted the head off. Instead of going down, the head grew back. This was creepy. Ash had to do something.

"Pikachu, use Thunder!" Pikachu launched one more electric attack, coating the being in the yellow light. KABOOM! The thing blew up into chunks of itself. It's body was gone. Let's see it try and regenerate now. Before thinking about what else could be in store, they raced toward the lower levels. That's when...

"Help!" Ashley wailed. She was close and no monitor nearby.

"We're coming!" The two armored villagers, heavy set, heard the voice and came after him...but he and Pikachu were gone. Actually, who knew Ash was a ninja? He, Pikachu and Buizel appeared behind the men, Ash carrying a fire extinguisher. "Okay, Buizel," he plotted. "Sonic Boom!" He chucked the heavy extinguisher at the two while Buizel fired it's Sonic Boom. The two collided between the armored guys. KABLAM! The condensed pressure blew the armor and body parts from the villagers. They're not going to be able to move. Ash and the Pokémon raced back to Ashley. "Sorry, we're late. You wouldn't believe the mess in here."

"Trust me, I've seen my share." Feeling the wood on the door, Ash knew what to do about this cell.

"Okay, stand back. I'm gonna knock this door down." Ashley took a few steps back as Ash released Infernape. "Buizel, use Ice Punch to freeze the door!" Buizel's paw was glowing a sky blue before it delivered a right cross which formed ice on the door. "Infernape, Flamethrower!" Infernape spewed the flames onto the ice. That's when the entire door...melted. That was weird, even the metal bars were soggy.

"That was odd. Why didn't you just use the Flamethrower in the first place?"

"Tried to minimize burning damages." Easy explanation but how did that just end up a wooden puddle? "Let's go!" The Ashes were back together and Ashley couldn't be happier. Once again, Ash's focus was on his rivals. That's when he realized that he had the piercing shock sticks. "Here," he offered to Ashley. "Just in case one gets too close to her. Ashley bopped it on Ash's head, not doing anything.

"What am I suppose to do with this? Bludgeon those guys?" That's when she saw the red button on one. One press... ZAP! Ash was a good step back to prevent stunning results. "Oh! That's convenient." After dealing with a barrage of what seemed to be mercenaries, the Ashes and Pikachu got back outside to a waste area. The pungent odor was a bit much for Ashley and Pikachu. "Whew! It stinks. I thought the smog in LA a few years ago was bad."

"Wait until you learn about Gringy City. That's a stinky place to be in." There was one way the group was going to escape: down in the dumps, literally.

"No way! I don't wanna go!" Ashley wanted to go back but Ash reeled her back in and put her in his arms.

"Hang on!" With one mighty leap, the Ashes and Pikachu leaped into the landfill. Talk about a long drop. Unlike before, Ash's aura didn't click in. Did the parasite think Ash was trying a little hard to impress Ashley? Ash landed on his feet but the extra weight...sorry to any females who are offended... caused him to put his dumper on the dump. Hey, look at the bright side: Ashley's clean. "You good?" Ashley was breathing with a little labor. Wait...did Ash get Ashley pregnant? No, they just met and it would take nine months for the process of pregnancy to bloom, not a few days.

"Are you nuts?" Ashley got up and tried to hoist Ash to his feet.

"Thought you'd be fine if I held you up. Then again, I seem to be going against my saying." Ash had a saying?

"What saying is that?"

"'No need to go out of your way just to get somebody to like you.' I said it when Brock tried to impress a trainer of a Mawile." Ashley snorted, knowing that putting her life in danger was what Ash wanted.

"So because you're trying to rescue me, you want to be liked by me?" Ash shyly giggled, trying to hide his nervousness. Ashley turned to see a being much like the one Pikachu combusted...only this one had barbs all over. "A-A-Ash?" Ash and Pikachu saw the thing. Instinct's advice: run!

"This way!" They moved and just in time. The thing woke and began to stroll in a creepy grogging motion. The chase was on and apparently, it had brothers. A swarm were slithering towards them. Suddenly, they found themselves in a room with molten lava inside a pit in the center. There was a wrecking ball hanging over the lava with a control panel on the other side. Ashley spotted doors.

"There's a path on the other side of the mess." Ash took priority.

"Okay, operate the wrecking ball. I'll cover you." They reached the panel when more parasitic people came in. Working the lever, Ashley swung the steel sphere around...Time to play dodge ball! The ball was swinging wildly as the people were smashed into the wall, into the lava, anywhere which didn't jeopardize the Ashes. Even Ash felt powerless. "So much for protection!" Looking, Ash saw Ashley's murderous grin in her eyes. Finally, the wall was crushed and the path opened. The Ashes pressed on and reached Gary and Paul in a huge truck.

"Next time, warn us before you go wandering off," Gary sounded his concerned displeasure at the front seat. Ash took a deep sigh as he and Ashley hopped on board the bed.

"Can you drive this rig, Gary?" A grin from the Oak was a sure sign that he knew how to operate a vehicle like this. Ashley jumped into shotgun.

"You two protect our six," she ordered. Your six? Ash and Paul had their weapons ready to save the flank as Gary worked the plow, opening the garage door like a soda can. The truck was now moving down a tunnel. The truck was slow going when mercenaries showed up, a moment Paul was itching for.

"Drapion, stand by for battle!" he summoned his scorpion-like Pokémon. "Toxic Spikes!" Drapion sprayed purple matter which seeped below the graveled road. When mercenaries walked all over the infected land, a sharp flame of poison rushed through the bodies, causing heads to explode. The Toxic Spikes were no contest. Still, more of the mercenaries came charging in, including another truck.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Ash yelled. Yeah, punch the accelerator!

"The tunnel's too narrow!" Ashley replied. Ash didn't like the fact that the tunnel's holding them back from gassing themselves from there. One mercenary popped up from behind and went after those in the front seats. Ash spotted him and tapped his shoulder.

"_Disculpe. No es necestia dar un paseo." _Ash heaved the mercenary over him, off their truck and right at the other cab. As the mercenary was flying, he caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a pin...from a grenade! This won't be pretty, much like...just about everything else! BLAM! The grenade tucked inside the clothes detonated as he hit the windshield, killing the driver of that cab as well and setting the truck ablaze. Ash felt confident that the truck was disabled. Not quite. The truck was rolling again! And it was speeding up! Trouble! The truck rolled, closing in on the lead. Ash had a couple of hatchets from the coaster ride and chucked them, embedding to the pavement. The truck hit the hatchets...and stopped. It burned and burned but the heroes were getting away...to an elevator lift. The elevator had to be manually turned on, something Ash could do with ease. "I got it!" But Paul held his shoulder. Ash turned, wondering why Paul wouldn't let him do the job.

"You protect Ashley," he commanded. "I'll take care of the switch!" Paul leaped down and climbed a ladder to flip the lever. Once done, he hopped back on the bed as the elevator carried the kids up and outside. Rolling still, the only thought was escape...until a horn said not so fast. Another truck...this time coming from in front. A suicide attempt to stop the heroes from reaching Saddler. Can they pull a magic trick and escape the apparent clutches of death?

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	13. Ash: El Ejército de un Solo Hombre

_Chapter 13: Ash Ketchum: El Ejército de un Solo Hombre_

* * *

><p>There's trouble on the horizon: an oncoming semi! It was a suicide attempt by a mercenary. Paul shot at the driver's side, piercing the windshield and nailing the driver flush in the cranium. The hands appeared to be glued to the steering wheel because they never left the "10 and 2." Instead, the limp body jerked the wheel to the left. The vehicle turned left but not left enough, forcing Gary to jerk the wheel to <em>her <em>left, destroying a wall and the engine. End of the line, everyone hopped off to make sure they could continue. "Maybe I should have taken the wheel, Gary!" Ashley mulled. Ash wasn't as upset as Ashley. He was happy to be alive.

"Let's just get going," he hustled everyone to press on through the next door...facing Saddler.

"Welcome to my island, children," he coldly greeted. "I do apologize about the hospitality my greeters treated you." Was Saddler serious? "I can feel them. They grow at an astounding rate inside everyone." The parasites that had infected the rivals and the president's daughter. Ash wasn't too concerned.

"Isn't that what we all do, Saddler?" Ash retorted. Saddler smirked, laughing a huff as he stuck his hand out. Ash stood like a statue, not phased. The others weren't so fortunate. A pulse jolted their eyes open and forced the rivals to the floor, blood coughing from them.

"Gary!" Ashley gasped as she watched helplessly.

"Paul!" Ash got over to see if maybe Pikachu's Thunderbolt would stop their seizures. Saddler was a little startled with Ash being unaffected by his magic.

"This is an interesting conundrum," he noticed. "How is it that the plagas has...no effect on you?" All Ash could do as he faced the enemy was scowl like Paul. Paul and Gary collapsed onto the dirt and pavement in painful agony. That's when the scorpion tail emerged. If Saddler couldn't control the parasite within Ash, he might as well kill him. The tail's sharp stinger flew right at Ash who sidestepped out of the way...but the tail swung back and smacked his body into a wall, pinning him with his arms under the appendage. "I could finish you off later. Right now..." His hand was now facing Ashley. "Come, little girl." Ashley felt the parasite ravaging her body like it did Paul and Gary. But instead of crumbling, Ashley's arms dipped and when she looked again, her eyes were bloody red. Ash couldn't break free and Paul and Gary couldn't stop the girl as she walked to Saddler's side. The tail retracted, releasing Ash so that he could tend to the rivals.

"Gary! Paul! You guys, okay!" The puddles of blood and the two incapable of moving were a good indication that they were out of commission. Gary remained semi-awake and faced Ash.

"Just go, Ash!" he winced. "We'll rest and recover!" He coughed more blood but Ash had to hold him to his word. He began the chase to recover Ashley. As he watched Ash depart for Ashley, Gary wondered how Ash could be immune to the spell Saddler sent. "How is he able to stand up against him without concern?" Ash and Pikachu bulldozed their way through the boiler room which was warmer than the one with the two giants. He even took stun batons and shoved the few into the stomachs, destroying the parasites. They would escape and soon find themselves in front of Ada. This was convenient.

"Why do I have a feeling you're after _me_, Ada?" Ada just huffed a chuckle as her stilettos clanked echos on the catwalks with a hand-held.

"Maybe your youth?" she teased. "Your energy? Determination? Or maybe I'm training to be a cougar going after those of your age to...satisfy my desire. Anyway, I managed to put a tracker in Ashley's sweater. Use this to find her." Handing the hand-held to Ash, she began to walk off.

"I don't understand something." What? How to use the device? Ada turned her head in curiosity. "Is there something you're after? Something dating back to Raccoon City? With Umbrella?" What's with these questions? Ada faced back to her path.

"Just save the girl." With that, she vanished over the railing. Ada wanted Ash to focus on getting Ashley rather than her past with the late Leon. That's when the phone buzzed. Saddler must be on the other side.

"I thought there was something between you and Ashley, not this Asian," he questioned Ash's interests.

"Ashley did give me a hug," he replied. "Ada wasn't that close to me."

"Ah, never mind. Anyway, I thought I would keep you a little busy as I perfect my magic with Ashley. I doubt you'll be up here quickly." Ash hung the phone up not wanting to hear Saddler any more for a while. Moving on, Ash and Pikachu found a room which seemed out of place for an island like this: high-tech with lasers shooting from the ceiling and the walls and moving side-to-side and top-to-bottom. They were moving in a pattern. Ash brought out a knife that...how many knives did Ash had from the villagers and mercenaries he and his rivals neutralize? He swiped the blade into the beam but instead of the knife cutting the beam, the beam cut the knife. The knife was half the blade it use to be.

"Huh! That's not good!" Ash patiently waited until there was clearance. He reached the other side of the hall where the mechanisms for the lasers were malfunctioning. Ash made the decision to permanently disable them. "Pikachu, let's knock these sensors out of it's senses! Thunderbolt!" Pikachu launched it's electric attack, causing the sensors to explode and chain to others. "There we go." Ash opened the door to move on into an underground cavern. There was also an elevated cage, something Ash shouldn't get into. "Now why would Saddler carry Ashley all the way down here?"

("Easy, genius!") Pikachu mocked. ("A trap!") Okay but what _kind _of trap? Busting out of a wall...just saying ugly would be the nicest way to describing this new creature. The head was a bald human male with an outrageously long tongue while there appeared to be multiple legs and a deformed mouth as it's tail. It's a very hideous copy of Paul's Pokémon, Drapion. Ash had the look of mortification at the sight.

"Saddler is sick." The monster lashed it's tongue out where Ash spun, catching the tasting body part back-handed. Still in the same motion, Ash pulled out another knife and pierced the tongue into the wood. Sticking the tongue to place, the thing was pulling to break free which prompted Ash to unsheathe the baton. ZAP! The shock of the baton onto the tongue stunned the thing where Ash could find his way out of the cage. He found and hit two control panels.

"_Comunicado de la jaula activado," _sounded a computer. _"30 segundos para lanzar."_ Ash knew he needed to bail. Pikachu was confused. It knew Pokémon language, not Spanish.

("What did it say?") he asked for clarification.

"We need to move!" Ash replied. The two opened the door to free themselves from the cage. Finally, the cage fell into the depths below, carrying the thing Ash made fighting it a cakewalk. CRASH! SPLAT! Whatever that thing was, it was no more. "Seeing all of this, I can't wait to get back home." Pikachu would agree. "On a side note, I think I understand Leon's line of work." It was a scary world for Leon to fight in. "Was" being the appropriate word now that he's passed away. The trainer and Pokémon beat feet in their search for Ashley as they climbed a ladder out of the cave and outside. Ash sure wished the others would recover soon. Ash soon found a small ruined village. Interesting place to put a village on an island. That's when a phone call rang. Saddler, no doubt. Nevertheless, Ash answered.

"Ash, it's me, again," Ada, not Saddler, answered. Ash was a little stunned, not as much as the now pancaked monster.

"What's up, Ada?"

"I found out that the way through the gate on the other side of this village is three insignias. There's one on the north side and one on the south side." But that's two. What about the third?

"There's one more you're not mentioning."

"Indeed, because one of Saddler's mercenaries has it. Find the mercenary, you have all three."

"Thanks. By the way, how are you-"

"Temporary hack. I'm about to lose transmission real soon."

"Gotcha. Could you take care of Gary and Paul for me?" Ada just huffed a giggle.

"Love to, but I'm-" Before she could respond, the signal was cut. She said real soon. That was real soon.

"Thanks, Ada. I know what to do. Staraptor, Infernape, I choose you!" Ash released two of his Pokémon for his plan. "Staraptor, take Pikachu to the north to find an insignia. Infernape, use Dig to reach the south for the same thing. I'll be fine looking for the one with the last piece." Nods from the Pokémon, Ash and his creatures split up. Ash was being sneaky around the village, finding mercenaries left and right. Which one had the insignia? The best way would be to take them all out. Shotgun ready, Ash snapped into action. Stabbing the electric batons into the mercenaries, the enemies fell one by one. Heck, he even blew one guy's head clean from his shoulders. What fell from one was a piece of a gold tablet which appeared to have a print of a snake. Satisfied, he made his way to the wall where there were, as Ada mentioned, three shaped holes. Ash found and inserted the snake in the small hole. That's when Staraptor cawed, forcing Ash to turn to the aerial duo. Pikachu dropped what looked to be a lion insignia.

("Here you go!") he squeaked. Ash caught and inserted the lion into the largest hole. Infernape showed up from the ground, holding an insignia of a bird.

"Thanks, guys." Ash placed the bird in the last slot. The wall revealed a doorway. This way! Ash recalled his Pokémon and entered with Pikachu. They proceeded up the pathway when Saddler made a call.

"There's something that's bothered me when I...crippled your friends," Saddler misinformed. A flustered sigh came from Ash, frustrated with the constant misconstrued reminders that Gary and Paul weren't friends.

"How many times do I need to repeat that assumption? They're not my friends!" Saddler scoffed.

"But you've all been helping each other out, have you?" This would explain why everyone believed that they were allies and not enemies.

"Point taken. Anyway..."

"Yes. I was wondering why the plagas inside of you wasn't active on order. It obviously effected your...associates."

"This also helped you take control of Ashley."

"Indeed. Have you not vomited blood?"

"The only blood that came out was from the injection. I still feel that irritation." Pikachu and the parasite knew Ash lied, yet thought that he wanted to keep Saddler's disposition off-balance.

"So either the egg hasn't fertilized or the egg died rather than try to make you a puppet. Perhaps I can give you another sample, see if maybe this one will prove better results."

"I'll have to come across that bridge first." Another scoff from Ashley's kidnapper.

"You're a riot, Mr. Ketchum." Ash hung up, rather disappointed.

"So much for that. He's still pretty stoic. I swear, he's Cyrus over here." Who's Cyrus?

"_**What about your rivals?" **_it asked. Now Ash huffed a giggle as he pat his chest.

"At least someone's paying attention. They'll bounce back." As they restarted, a forest green helicopter hovered over the scene towards a fleet of mercenaries, equipped with heavy artillery. Once more, Ash's phone was abuzz. "I swear on this, the phone needs new batteries before we reach Saddler. Talk to me!"

"You're taking Kennedy's legwork, huh?" someone on the chopper buzzed. "US Air Force, at your service. Sorry it took so long, you wouldn't believe the aerial traffic off of the Atlantic Coast." Finally, some extra help. "I'll wash these guys clean."

"10-4, US!" The helicopter, equipped with Gatling guns, rockets and missiles, maneuvered to behind a water tower and nudged the steel container onto the group. The mercenaries scattered from the falling container which flattened a couple but it didn't spill water. They sealed the top tight. The helicopter wasn't done as the guns were firing. The spreading of bullets mowed down the mercenaries and the parasites, even turning the tower into Swiss cheese when...KABOOM! Guess the water tower wasn't filled with water but gasoline. The explosion caused a chain which reached storage units and ignited. Ash and Pikachu looked to the massacre, impressed. "That's what I call firepower!" There didn't appear to be anymore mercenaries in the path but Ash had to be cautious.

"Get to the daughter! We'll cover you!"

"10-4!" Ash and Pikachu raced ahead with the helicopter flying over. More mercenaries came forward, only to be pumped full of lead. He even picked up a few RPGs those could be useful. Turrets got Ash to use one RPG, destroying the turret and it's user. Finally, he reached to what appeared as a safe route. Guess what, Ash and Pikachu were surrounded with mercenaries. Ash looked to be at death's door from the amount but the BIG steel brother came back.

"Duck!" Ash and Pikachu lied face down. Let the second massacre commence! The helicopter's guns shot everything that moved and Ash and Pikachu stayed on their stomachs. Every mercenary was dead after a minute of the bullet storm. Ash and Pikachu rose up, viewing the destruction of the plagas.

"Power of the United States!"

"Indeed. Land of the free, home of the brave." Out of nowhere, a rocket slammed into the helicopter, blowing it up alongside the pilots. Startled, Ash and Pikachu watched the helicopter fall down to the sea. Pikachu looked to where the rocket was shot from, eying Saddler with a mercenary.

("Saddler!") it squeaked. Ash turned to see the leader walk off, a scowl forming on her face.

"Los Illuminados," he recalled the cult's name. "Someone needs to see the light." Ash's anger was very understandable. He hoped that Gary and Paul would recover soon enough. As a matter of fact, the noise brought the two to locate their rival. Ash knew the footsteps, recognizing them as the neighbor and the Sinnoh trainer...yet never turned to acknowledge them. Gary wanted to see if Ash was okay but Paul held him back. He saw the anguish on Ash's face. He also realized that no matter how much Paul would try to piss Ash off, Saddler did what he could never do. Ash wanted to make Saddler pay.

* * *

><p>CONTINUARÁ...<p> 


	14. Apagón de Los Illuminados

_Chapter 14: Apagón de Los Illuminados_

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><p>How low can Saddler go? Ash was never easily angered, not even Paul would upset him too much. Then again, Paul never killed anybody or any Pokémon that Ash would know about. The phone rang but instead of answering it, Ash let it ring, ignoring what Saddler wanted to comment on. He knew that he wanted to boast about the American military who assisted Ash and Pikachu while Gary and Paul reeled from the parasites ravaging their bodies. "If you're not gonna answer, let me," Paul argued. Ash tossed the phone to Paul for him to talk to Saddler.<p>

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," Saddler sarcastically teased. "But you know how I feel about Americans. They all would like to escort the president's daughter home."

"Really? How you attacked that chopper made my ally want to rip your heart out and stuff it in your a-hole!" Saddler scoffed more, wanting the rage to build, trying to stoke the parasite in Ash to wreak havoc like before.

"Pretty soon,_ that_ heart and yours will no longer have to beat for the freedom you so long for. Instead, it will be one that will beat for me."

"I'm not sure which is more pathetic, him and his Pokémon training or you trying to control him?"

"You think the same tactic you used on my little boy will work on me? It takes a pathetic person to know a pathetic person!" The cackling was enough of a bother that Paul disconnected the call. He would give the phone back to Ash if he hadn't already gone off ahead. He and Gary pursued after Ash but along the way, another seizure hit both. The rampaging parasite stopped both as they quivered each wiggle and coughed blood as Ada arrived.

"You boys okay?" she asked. The convulsions stopped for Paul but not Gary. When Paul opened his eyes, they weren't pure. No shine filled the eyes as they instead glow red with hate. He glared at Ada and lunged at her. Gary's convulsions were easing up as he saw Paul wrap his hands around Ada's neck, choking her with his might. The hands squeezed harder and harder on her throat. Gary pulled a stun baton of his own and pressed it to Paul's back, shocking him and softening his grip. The shock of it all knocked Paul down to the dirt. Ada coughed and gasped, trying to breathe again. "Dammit..." Paul came around as Gary studied the episode.

"These parasites seem to feed off the emotions of it's host," he theorized. "The more malcontent the host is, the more susceptible it is to have the parasite control it." Considering how pissed Paul was at Saddler mocking the death of the helicopter crew, it seemed planned. "It doesn't really help that Paul's the most disheartened out of the three of us." Paul, still steamed, did not particularly appreciate the recite of Gary.

"Whatever," he tried to brush off. Going by Gary's theory, Ada assumed the reason the parasite in Ash wasn't able to feed off anything it needed since he was so calm and thrilled.

"Maybe Ash had adopted that theory before you even spoke up about it," she pointed out. "Either way, you boys need to extract those parasites from inside before you lose all control." Gary and Paul both agreed as the three headed in different directions. Meanwhile, Ash was in a struggle with the mercenaries. Gauntlet of mercenaries? No problem. Ash was acting the part of a very young "Dirty Harry" and none of the mercenaries would make his day. Ambush? Cakewalk! There may be no real answer to where Ash learned close combat but he and Pikachu cleaned house where he was down to the last two but Ash used one wielding a baton to plunge into another before capping his head with a revolver shot. The one embedded with the baton? Still up. Ash hit the button...but nothing! Was the baton drained? Ash removed the baton but the mercenary still walked. He pulled out a red grenade, pulled the pin and shoved it into the mercenary before drop kicking him into a red drum. The grenade burst inside, inflaming him from the inside out. The mercenary pulled a knife and stabbed the drum open out of panic. A clear liquid bled from the drum onto the burning man but instead of dousing the fire, it spread into others trying to take cover. Ash couldn't believe what just happened.

"I take it the red drums are filled with gas," he concluded. After he cleared a path through a few areas, he entered a room where Ashley was in a big container and strapped of her unconscious body to a chair. Saddler snaked in from behind Ash.

"My young friend," he coldly played. "I've offered you an awesome power that you could use...but you'd choose death over strength." Ash didn't turn to acknowledge Saddler...but did scoff at how ridiculous his offer was.

"Actually, the plagas you gave me _has_ offered its power...the power to stop you." Saddler was a little surprised that Ash wasn't pissed off at how he mercilessly killed the chopper crew.

"The youth is so entertaining, I'm fascinated." Without warning, Saddler charged at Ash, palm forward. Ash braced, his hand forward to absorb the strike. Ash's hand stopped Saddler's from reaching. Saddler peered at Ash, a blue glow of aura enveloping him.

"I thought you outgrew playing 'Patty cake.'" Ash caught a glimpse of Saddler's other hand in time coming right at him. He broke free from the first, ducked the second and clasped his arm around the second arm and his chest. What came next... This is a work of fiction and these are fictional characters so no matter the circumstances, do _**not** _try this at home...or your local terrorist hideout. You'll suffer significant injuries and in rare cases, death. Ash hoisted himself and Saddler to the air before he slammed the fiend to the ground with plenty of force on his head. Saddler looked like he was knocked out from that body slam. Ada showed up in time to see the slam, awed at how much force was implied. Ash left an impression and not just on the floor.

"Yikes," she huffed. "You know, The Rock will sue you for using his signature 'Rock Bottom.'" Ash giggled with Ada's funny tease. Besides, there wasn't any rope to help do "The People's Elbow." He walked over and opened the container where he helped Ashley out. Weakened, Ash kept Ashley up with his body weight for leverage.

"What's...going on?" she weakly murmured. Ash had no time to explain...because Saddler was getting up. He didn't feel rattled with getting slammed viciously.

"No time," he summed up the situation as he carried Ashley out of the room with Saddler chasing. Ada fired a machine gun at Saddler, every bullet hitting him. Saddler should be Swiss cheese about now, but he walked without any wince. Ada spotted more gas drums above and shot away. KABOOM! The amount of drums in the blast would nuke anyone...but Saddler was unaffected. This wasn't right. The Ashes got a fresh head start on Saddler that they made it to a room where Gary and Paul were waiting.

"What took you?" Paul snarled. Ash was surprised to see his rivals here before they could.

"Her?" Ashley slapped Ash in the back of the head for that joke.

"Kid!" she snapped. Gary had the machine all set.

"We found a shortcut that got us here," he explained. "We used this time to run a prelim which uses a special radiation. The end result: no more parasite!" The rivals did it! Gary and Paul were parasite-free! Ashley was skeptical.

"This hunk-of-junk? It removes the parasites in our bodies?"

"Yeah, I've gotta say that I was doubtful about this," Paul reviewed. "But when we did it, even I had to be shooting myself for the disbelief." The Ashes were sold. Ash knew that by getting Ashley onto the chair, the process would begin.

"Alright, let's get you strapped in," he prepped. Ashley was startled with Ash offering her to the machine first.

"Wait...why do I have to go before you?" she questioned.

"My parasite and I have been on good terms. The only time we disagreed was after the fight against that lake monster. Sorta like how my partnership with Pikachu started." Ashley did a double-take. Did Ash and Pikachu fight against each other? She had to ask the Pokémon.

"Tell me that's not true." All Pikachu could do was shrug, acknowledging that they didn't see eye-to-eye at times.

("It's true,") he squeaked. ("We still do at times.") Just because Ash and Pikachu were partners didn't mean it was always so smooth. Ash helped Ashley into the chair for the extraction. Just before he could adjust the straps for her arms, Ashley slung her arm around Ash's head, jostling the cap off before reeling Ash in for...SMOOCH! First daughter, apparently not first kiss. Ash gulped at why Ashley gave him a kiss.

"For good luck." Oh, that's why. Ash came back by putting his cap over her face. "Hey!"

"Just relax and let the machine do the work," he instructed. Ashley allowed Ash to finish prep work before he joined his rival behind a partition. Two beam guns were adjusted to point at Ashley before magenta beams struck her, causing pain. Ash wanted to make sure that she would be alright but all he could do was wait until the radiation did its job. After a minute, the lasers stopped and Ashley plopped onto the chair as the cap fell to the floor. Ash raced over as Gary checked the X-ray. Organs were in place.

"Parasite elimination complete," he notified. "She'll be okay." Good news. Ashley woke up as Ash was removing the straps. When freed, Ashley hugged and kissed Ash again, this time she didn't want to let go of him. Paul became disgusted at the sight of the loving pieces of Ash.

"Unbelievable," he groaned.

"You know, that might be us one day," Gary enlightened. Paul gave Gary an evil eye, telling him to can his thoughts. "What?"

"Don't put me in the same boat as you and him!" When the Ashes broke, Ash felt more confident that he and his rivals would be able to complete the mission.

"What do you say?" he asked. "Ready to shutdown the Enlightened?" Ashley bobbed a nod, ready to end Saddler once and for all. They climbed the staircases back outside and reach an elevator. A scent in the air disagreed with Gary.

"Something's afoul," he felt. "Ashley, stay here with the merchant." The merchant turned to the calling of his name. Ash had an inkling about the merchant that he needed to remove from his chest.

"How did you get here in the first place?"

"I have my resources," the merchant answered nonchalantly. Ash was satisfied.

"Fair enough." The rivals hit the elevator which rose. At the top, they found Ada hung on a crane. Ash looked ahead, realizing the feeling from Gary. "Trap!" The rivals turned to see Saddler approaching. Before he stuck his arm out, Ash shook his head. "Ozzy, you know as well as I do that your control doesn't work on me." Regardless, Saddler stuck his hand out, hoping to control the rivals. They weren't affected either. "Yeah. Not on them as well." Saddler was in disbelief.

"What!" he gasped. Ash snatched and flung Pikachu at Ada.

"Use Iron Tail to cut the rope!" Pikachu swung Iron Tail, breaking the rope to where Ada fell onto a pile of junk, cushioning her fall. Gary came over to Ada's aid. Saddler began to laugh hysterically. "You're having a good time considering the circumstances."

"Oh, am I? This is a Hollywood movie script that's being written by amateurs. The hero rescues the damsel in distress and destroys the villain. You see, you three have provided more entertainment that only my cast would present. But you see, the script is about to be rewritten. No way will you leave this island alive." He opened his mouth wide. What emerged from his gullet was an orange eyeball. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"We'd better clear out," Gary told Ada and Pikachu. They hightailed it to where Saddler's head exploded, revealing a monstrosity of disgusting tentacles, on with Saddler's head. Paul was sickened by the sight, making a conclusion about Saddler.

"He wasn't affected by the parasite," he summarized. "He _is_ the parasite!" Ash was ready to stand his ground when Ashley entered from the elevator. She screamed in fear at the sight of the ugly creature. A tentacle fitted with a stinger came after Ashley, forcing Ash to jump in the path. STAB! The stinger impaled Ash in the chest before slamming him into the wall behind him. A fatal blow and Ash fell limp, dead on impact. "No, Ash!"

"Ash!" Ashley screeched as she witnessed her protector killed. Pikachu was shocked. Gary couldn't grip the situation. Ada was horrified, as was Paul.

"_**Now, you shall all suffer like he has," **_ the thing gargled. Suddenly, a clamp. The eye turned to see Ash's hand wrapped around the stinger. Ash rose his head, a beaming, confident smile gazing right at the parasite.

"That was close," he sighed. How could Ash survive being skewered like that? Pikachu raced up and fired it's Iron Tail, slicing the tentacle from Ash. Ash landed on the floor with both feet planted. For someone who's got a hole in his chest and bleeding profusely, he's moving around just fine. Ada retreated to where she snagged a briefcase.

"Ash, here!" she called out as she hurled the case. The case landed and slid to Ash. He opened it and pulled out a pink RPG launcher. Before he could aim, a tentacle lashed out, forcing Ash to leap clear. However, he lost his grip on the launcher. It slid toward Ashley who picked it up and took a knee to steady her aim. This was the first time Ashley had held something that brought boom. Ash got to Ashley's back to help her aim when the creature spotted her...upskirt. Black underwear was exposed to the parasite.

"_**Ah, to see the lingerie of the American princess," **_it snickered at the shot. Ashley realized that the parasite was peering at her unmentionables, something you don't want to do unless you want to engage in... No way would Ashley be happy about that. Heck, she was pissed beyond a normal mad mood.

"You..." she scowled before... "...perverted...BASTARD!" She pulled the trigger where the fired grenade gave birth to stabilizer wings. The grenade slammed into the parasite but instead of blowing up right there, it carried the fiend over the waters before it blew up in the sky. Pieces of what was once Osmund Saddler now scattered into the sea. The nightmare was over. Ash turned back to where he was punctured and spotted a parasite that wasn't attached. To him, that was his parasite. He ran over to check on it. It had a huge hole in the abdomen.

"_**Is...he gone?" **_ it weakly murmured as it was cradled in Ash's arms.

"Yeah, Saddler's dead," he answered. "Thank you for protecting me." The head moved in a bobbing motion.

"_**No. Thank you for freeing me from his control. I can...be in heaven."**_ The parasite fell limp in defeat. It would no longer infect anyone...but this parasite was good. The unsung hero had passed away.

"_Mucho Gracias, mi amigo." _Don't pray too long. The island began to collapse because of the shaking. Another helicopter came out of nowhere, not even armed as Ada scooped up the sample Saddler took from Luis after killing him.

"This way!" she ordered. Everyone chased after the helicopter but large debris fell between the Ashes and the others. The Ashes were in trouble.

"No good!" she yelped. Ash had to do something, and the only way was to retreat back.

"This way, Ash!" he called..._his_ name to her. Ashley had no time to argue. They retreated back into a cavern as Ada, Pikachu Gary and Paul boarded the chopper. Pikachu wished Ash and Ashley would get out. The island was falling apart. Rocks and steel fell into the sea.

"Down there," Ada told his pilot as she pointed to a small yacht waking in the water. "Gary, Paul, use the yacht to get to safety and call rescue. I have arrangements to make." Pikachu, Gary and Paul disembarked from the helicopter and swam to the yacht. Their only hope now is Ash with Ashley. After a few minutes, the island was reduced to a mountain-like pile of chipped rock and twisted metal. The island was no more. Were the Ashes? Pikachu's ears heard an engine. Could it be? Out of the rubble, a jet-ski and riding it were the Ashes. They escaped!

("They're okay!") Pikachu squeaked in delight. Gary laughed in the same feeling that Ash came out of the rubble. Paul huffed a sigh. He knew that Ash would be okay...or so it seemed. Ashley guided the jet-ski to the yacht waived over by Gary. Ash was slumped over but waived that he needed help. Ashley hopped off first before helping Ash on board.

"What's wrong?" Gary questioned his health. Ash was pale.

"Bad blood loss," he muttered weakly. The blood on Ashley's sweater was no doubt from Ash. Pikachu had gone down below deck and retrieved towels to help control the bleeding.

"Save your strength, Ash," she advised as she pressed on the wound created by Saddler. "I'm surprised that you're still conscious despite this wound."

"Yeah, I'm thinking that the skewer missed every organ," Gary determined. "Yeah, if the stinger was a couple inches up, Ash wouldn't be here." Ash chuckled despite the weakened state.

"_Anywhere _but where he hit and I would've been on my back instead of standing," he smiled. "I think my parasitic friend helped me when it happened." Paul emerged to see his rival still down. However, he wasn't going to "kick" Ash like that.

"I just got off radio contact with the US Navy," he reported. "Told them we have you on board and we'll be intercepted in a matter of minutes." After all that, it was coming to an end. A cruiser with the USA flag swooped in after an hour which the yacht was on the move. Seeing the new ship, Paul waived a white cloth to signal the vessel. The vessel slowed it's knot speed before a series of rope ladders dropped. Ashley looked up where men in uniform descended onto the ship.

"Ms. Graham, are you okay?" a black man addressed. Ashley chose to introduce herself, allowing Gary and Pikachu to tend to Ash.

"I am but he's not," she pointed out to Ash. Viewing the bloody towels, this was dire for Ash to receive medical attention.

"Private, signal for an stretcher." The private agreed and climbed up the ladder, something this man wanted the rivals to follow. "You two follow the private while we tend to your friend."

"But he-" Paul argued but...

"Let it go, Paul," Gary sighed. "He helped all of us." Gary and Paul climbed the ropes before Ashley copied with Pikachu on her shoulder. Organizing pulleys, the Navy men lowered a stretcher to stabilize Ash before he was lifted on the larger vessel. After Ash was on, a group put Ash on a gurney before taking him inside to sick bay.

"Looks like all his organ are intact," one notified. "Major blood loss, however."

"All he needs to be is closed up," another doctor summed up. "After that, just some rest." Ash was going to be okay according to the doctors. Alas, the trip ended.

"I'll tell you one thing that isn't pathetic about Ash," Paul spoke to Ashley who hoped for Ash's speedy recovery. "He's got a ton of tenacity. Could make for comeback rallies when it comes to the Lilly of the Valley Conference." Ashley didn't see the same faint light Paul did.

'Paul, you're wrong,' she denied in thought. 'Tenacity to him is the tip of the iceberg. The very tip. He's got what you don't have: heart and that's why he will go far.' On the bridge, one man was on the radio. Contact to the mainland?

"Go ahead, Wisconsin," sounded...Ingrid? And who's Wisconsin? The man on the radio?

"USS Wisconsin confirming we have the president's daughter, safe and sound," he answered.

"Are the boys on board as well?"

"10-4, all three are on, one in sick bay getting treatment. Full recovery imminent."

"Thank you. Norfolk base will welcome you home." Ashley was returning home with her rescuers. Now if there was a way to return the boys back to the Pokémon world...

* * *

><p>QUE SE CELEBRARÁ...<p> 


	15. Los Verdaderos Héroes Americanos

_Chapter 15/Final: Ash, Gary y Paul: Los Verdaderos Héroes Americanos_

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><p>The USS Wisconsin was on their voyage back to the US. After their rivaled victory against Saddler, the heroes and Ashley were picked up by the battleship and none too soon. Ash apparently was in dire straights after his chest was ripped by Saddler in the final fight. He was rushed inside to administer surgery to control the injuries. The captain of the ship approached Ashley with a report. "Ms. Graham, we'll be another day before reach American waters," he informed. "You'll be back before the president's State of the Union address."<p>

"Okay," she accepted the news. "How's Ash? Is he...?" The captain looked over his notes for Ash's condition.

"He's in good condition. He lost a tremendous amount of blood but some food and rest and he'll be up before we dock in Norfolk." Wisconsin was heading to Virginia. Ashley realized that she was almost home. The captain wasn't done. "He's up right now. He's a real sport after the operation. If you want, you can go visit him while I inform his partners."

"Thank you, captain." Ashley started to make her way to the room holding the bed-ridden Ash when she realized that she still wore Ash's blood. "Damn. I forgot about this." The captain heard the first daughter's minor dilemma and had a solution.

"There's a change of clothes for you in the woman's locker. I doubt you want that boy to see his own blood on you." Why not? Did the captain think that if Ash saw the blood on the sweater, he'll think Ashley was there to kill him? Ashley took the advice and changed before seeing a topless Ash with a huge scar on his chest. Wow, Saddler penetrated deep inside Ash. At least he's in bed, regardless if he was wearing pants or not. The covers blanketed anything remotely private.

"Ash?" Ashley called from the doorway.

"Yeah?" Ash replied. Ashley entered, wearing a plain white t-shirt and camouflage pants. Did her skirt have blood on it or just dirt? Well, that t-shirt really showed off how big her pitcher's mounds were. Imagination limited! "How are you holding up?" A snort from Ashley was a way to say she's fine.

"I should be asking you that. I'm not the one who took a stinger through the body and still fought." Ash was a tad embarrassed with his accomplishment.

"Yeah, I guess you got me there." Ashley suddenly felt tearful. Why? Did somebody else go on her behalf?

"When you were skewered and when you passed out on the jet-ski, I thought I lost someone who cared for me more than my father. I mean..." Ash reflected on the misguided journey of blood and carnage throughout the Spanish Countryside. Lives were indeed lost.

"We did lose people. Luis, Leon, the parasite that was in me...let's not forget those on the helicopter shot down by that monster." It's a safe consideration that the parasite wasn't a person but the thought was appreciated. Still, regarding Saddler as a monster would sound like a compliment to him but since he's no more than fish bait, we won't get an answer from him. "I think fate had all three of us trying to work out our differences for the same cause. If we return, we'll become bitter rivals like before." Ashley sensed a conflict with Ash's emotions. Ash wanted to return to the Pokémon world but now that the three were actually becoming buddies much to Paul's chagrin, returning might bring consequences which could hurt the morale.

"Don't you still want that title?" What title? "Gary told me of your undying quest to be a Pokémon Master." Ash was slightly humiliated but not ashamed of his travels being revealed.

"Yeah, but what can your dad do? Does he have a team of scientists that can bring us back home?" Ashley snickered as she pet his hair like he would on Pikachu's fur.

"Well, if not, I'll be happy to have a little man be my secret service guard." Her smile spooked a tad on Ash. The captain came in to tell Ash that food was available.

"How's our patient, this evening?" he asked with a plate of broiled fish and chips. This isn't the England kind, those were Sour Cream and Onion flavored potato chips. "Sorry but we weren't expecting company to be on board with Ms. Graham." Ash wasted no time scarfing down the food.

"Thanks," he praised with his mouth full of haddock.

"I should let you know that there's rooms to separate the three of you while we spend at least another day out at sea before reaching the US. Gary told us about the bickering and disagreements between the three of you." Boy, what _hasn't _Gary mentioned? The USS Wisconsin was afloat for another day as expected and Ash was actually moving about. At least he wasn't suffering from motion sickness. Only tough men can sail with the best. The following morning, a sight that told the crew on the ship that they were home: a giant lime green female statue wearing a toga, crown and holding a torch high. Ash, Paul, Gary, Ashley and Pikachu marveled at the sight of the statue.

"The Statue of Liberty, boys," she notified. "Welcome to the United States of America." Say hello to America.

"Land of the free and..." Ash recalled that saying from the helicopter pilot...the one Saddler shot with an RPG. He tilted the bill of his cap down, remembering those lost once more.

"So, this is where you're from," Gary theorized.

"As a matter of fact, my family comes from New York City," Ashley corrected. "At least until my father became the president when Bush's parliament was impeached by the Supreme Court and the taxpayers voted after his reaction to the 9/11 attacks where terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and destroyed the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon." It dawned on Ash that America was feeling losses of their own. "Even now, bodies are still being unearthed from the fallen towers. Altogether so far, over 3,300 lives were claimed." That made the losses during the fight against the _Los Illuminados_ look like just a chip. Paul, hearing the details, had an interesting assumption.

"There are people who are pathetic and cowardly, no matter where you go," he murmured. "No society is without them." Ash wanted to criticize the harshness of Paul's tongue...but figured that he had a reason. If people were to die in the form of a suicidal terrorism, they were pathetic and cowards to boot.

"Yet you have no choice but to live with them," he finalized. Harsh realities. After a few mores hours of drifting, Wisconsin found the dock which brought them home in Norfolk. Men on shore got a mobile staircase to a door on starboard. "This is it." As the door was being opened to allow Ashley and the rivals off, vans with numbers and an assortment of letters rolled up, one reading "FOX NEWS, " another having "CBS" and all sorts. "Guess the media wants to get in on the scoop." The military flanked all angles to shield Ashley from the media. A limo rolled up and Ashley was escorted inside. A second limo rolled up where more of the USS Wisconsin crew escorted the rivals for safe transfer. They were shoved into the spacy limo where they received an interesting surprise. A rather young brunette black woman in a business suit and glasses.

"Hello, boys," she greeted with a familiar voice. It took Ash a moment to recognize what the voice reminded him.

"Ingrid?" The woman huffed a chuckle, found out.

"What, you thought it was a middle-aged white woman?" Gary itched his head, Ash huffed an embarrassed laugh and Paul could care less who it was. "Hey, terrific job for a bunch of young boys to take a rather adulterated task in rescuing Ashley."

"Yeah, thanks." Hearing Ash, Ingrid determined this was the boy who had the most communication before entering Ramon's castle.

"So, you're Ash." That's when she studied the other two, Paul not paying any attention. "That would mean he's Paul and you're Gary."

"That's right," Gary agreed. Finally, she spotted Ash's Pikachu, the urge to pet it nearly overriding her job to make sure the boys had the chance to make it to...where were they going? "By the way, where are we traveling to?" This snapped the illusion from Ingrid's eyes.

"Yeah, we're on our way to the White House to meet with President Graham. It might take us a little while since we need to cross into Maryland and then to Washington. By the way, is that your cute mouse?" Pikachu turned to Ingrid on call of what he was. Ash wanted to clear it up.

"This is Pikachu, my first Pokémon and best friend," Ash introduced. Pikachu resounded with a chirp. Ingrid giggled at how adorable Pikachu acted. It had taken a couple more hours but they made it to a white building which appeared like a huge mansion. Ashley waited with members of the Secret Service in sunglasses and black business suits before the boys arrived. When they reached a room labeled "The Oval Office," the door opened to where a grown brunette man in another business suit turned.

"Father!" Ashley cried out, brightening the man's face and tears.

"Ashley, oh my god!" he choked up before Ashley wrapped her dad in her arms in a hug. "Thank god you're okay. I thought I lost you for good." Aw...family reunions can be so touching, even to Ash's and Pikachu's eyes. Pikachu's eyes were leaking tears while only a few shed from Ash's. "After tonight's State address, I wanna put my things aside to spend time with you." That's being rather fatherly of the situation. The president, or Ashley's dad, came to the boys to introduce himself. "You must be the ones responsible for my daughter's safety. Thank you for making sure she's alive. You couldn't imagine what someone in my position as a parent and the president would be enduring." Paul had a look to say that he done what was needed. "As president, I will try to fulfill anything you need. You are in my debt." Paul opted to speak on behalf.

"We just want to return home," he got to the point. "That way, we can return to our lives." At least Paul knew what Ash and Gary wanted.

"I'll see that your travels are met. Meantime, you are all invited to tonight's State of the Union address, as well as a banquet for your rewards." President Graham isn't holding anything back.

"Thanks a whole lot, Mr. President," Ash praised. The president shook his head softly.

"No, thank a whole lot to you." It was great news. At a hotel room moving to the evening, the boys were enjoying the camaraderie benefited by President Graham...well, two of the three. Ash and Gary were in tuxedos in preparation to tonight's State of the Union.

"I don't know why you need to be excited," Gary teased as he helped straighten Ash's necktie. "I mean, it's not like Ashley's gonna be sitting by you." Was this out of jealousy that Ashley had admired Ash? Was it a joke for what they had gone through?

"We're being nationally honored by the president," Ash reminded. "We're not trying to impress Ashley anymore. What's the purpose?" The question should be why wasn't Paul in that monkey suit?

"Hopefully, death by boredom will come," he snorted. Someone was yearning excitement.

"Hey, I'm sure the president will acknowledge you, too. You were an awesome help with fighting The Enlightened. You deserve as much praise as the rest of us." Paul snorted that notion off, not wanting to hear how the president's words would irritate him. Ash and Gary shrugged at his retort. Set, they left for the State of the Union...but before they made it out of their room...

"By the way, Ash..." Ash adjusted his head to the voice. "You were pathetic with that voice when I met you. Hearing this, I consider you a great challenge. I don't want to be disappointed when we return." Ash gave Paul a confident smile before he left, Pikachu not far behind. They arrived at a gala of people entering a town hall like building which looked like a concert hall inside. Joined by Ingrid, Ash, Pikachu and Gary got front row while scores of adults sat waiting for President Graham. It was a sold out crowd. Suddenly, an old man came through the doors.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America!" he announced. Graham entered the building getting appraisals from plenty of supporters. He arrived at the podium after a ton of fanfare. After a song was played by a high school band, the president was ready to take the floor.

"It's an honor to be in the presence of those who've helped me during my time of crisis," he applauded. "As of now, I am glad to say that my family's crisis has ended in perhaps the best result expected. Not only has my dear daughter, Ashley, been recovered alive but the terrorists behind her kidnapping and attempt to rid this country have been dealt with the harshest of punishments. Soon, Spain will regain the grounds overrun by these fiends and we wish the same to the number one terrorist cult, al-Qaida and their leader, Osama bin Laden." A huge round of applause deafened the voices in the hall. "Speaking of Spain, there are a couple of young, brave men and one mouse who've performed a task made for men but underestimated by the determination of skill and strategy. They're not old enough to attend high school like our band from this district but proven that age is nothing but a number. I like to present to the podium Ash Ketchum and Garfield Oak." Ingrid turned to the boys amid the clapping from everyone.

"You're needed," she alerted. Ash and Gary rose up and walked up to the podium where there were handed certificates. As they received the certificate, they shook Graham's hand as popping flashes from cameras blinded those on stage while Ashley, now in a more feminine look with a white dress and stiletto high heels watched on. If only Ash knew... As the time passed when the president's best researchers were searching for a way to get the heroes back, they were busy. Paul's working his Pokémon for what's still to come while Ash and Gary went sightseeing throughout Washington. They were also invited to watch the local football team play during the weekend. Their tickets reading "PITTSBURGH STEELERS VS. BALTIMORE RAVENS." The Ravens won that game, making it more awesome to watch and even Ash received a midnight violet football jersey with the number "52" and "LEWIS" on the back. Then one day, Ash and Pikachu were relaxing at a cafe, enjoying tea and milk.

"You know, we've pretty much passed off Pokémon training," he realized. Pikachu wasn't worried about it too much.

("We didn't really need to push ourselves after our fight against Saddler,") he squeaked.

"Well, yeah, I suppose. Perhaps too much stress from a harrowing event would lead to nothing good." He began to wonder back to when it was just walking from town to town, enjoying the journey, catching Pokémon...never saving the president's daughter, killing a city's worth of villagers, stopping a twisted enemy's genocide... "Although, I'm still on the fence about something. Whether to be mad at Team Rocket for that trap that brought us to Spain or glad that they brought us there when the world really needed help." Praising Team Rocket wasn't something Pikachu wanted to feel good about. Then it became awkward.

"I'm more worried about that new voice you have," a female grumbled. Ash and Pikachu turned to see two young people. One was a blue-haired female girl wearing a white beanie hat, black tank-top with a pink skirt and pink boots. In her arms was a blue penguin chick. The other was a tanned brunette male wearing a green/brown traveling vest and cargo pants. Pikachu gawked at who came while Ash had this unusual calm at seeing these people.

"Hey, Brock! Hey, Dawn!" Hearing a rather collected Ash was a bit of a surprise to the two. Pikachu and the penguin were happy to be back together.

("Piplup!") Pikachu cried out to the penguin chick.

("Pikachu, I missed you!") Piplup chirped. It was a happy sight.

"Ash, what happened to your voice?" Brock wondered. "The last I heard it was back in Saffron City after May won her contest with her Squirtle." Ash could blame Pikachu but he did enjoy that voice, an item that even Paul of all people actually preferred.

"Let's just say that what we went through wasn't the easiest to overcome," he tried to sidestep the subject. "Yeah, Team Rocket sent us into this crazy dilemma but it was nothing we couldn't lose to." Dawn and Brock were wondering who "we" were.

"By 'we,' it's not just you and your Pokémon, right?" Dawn guessed.

"Yeah, it was hard to convince Paul to help me and Gary but sometimes rivals bring out the best out of us." To know that Paul helped Ash and Gary despite how much he hated to have around was a shock to Ash's friends. "Let me tell you, the experience of saving the world is exhausting but the rewards are definitely beneficial." Dawn and Brock could only wonder what Ash did to have him say that. Just then, a few young teen girls came around to see Ash, notebooks, pens and ink pads in hand.

"Mr. Ketchum?" one asked for Ash. "Hi, we saw the State of the Union address where you and your friend got certificates for saving the president's daughter. Is it okay if we get your autographs, same with Pikachu?" This was a new look to Ash, being a celebrity. Ash smiled, not really giving the thought of autographs as a negative thing.

"You bet." Ash grabbed the notebooks and wrote his name. To Brock, these were some rather attractive females. He couldn't wait to introduce himself to them.

"Well, you should keep in mind that I helped train him in rescuing people," he tried to swoon the teens. The girls were rather nervous about this young man. "I'm Brock and I put my friend, Ash through the ropes in skill and dexterity. How else was he able to rescue an important daughter of an i-gah!" Brock was silenced by a blue frog jabbing glowing violet fingers into him. Everyone watched as he collapsed, immobilized. Then the frog dragged the blowhard out of sight. After signatures were applied, the girls ran off, sun shining smiles beaming from their young faces.

"Well, since you guys came for us, let's get Gary and Paul and get back to our own world." Dawn and the Pokémon agreed before they walked off to a secret area underground. There, the group was regrouped with Paul and Gary and a swirling portal that was going to bring them back to their world. Never underestimate the brains of US scientists. Joining them was Ashley who viewed this from the back.

"Well, this is it," Ashley announced. "Once you go through the gate, you'll be back to your world." The group was happy to have this chance to return. "Ash, Gary, Paul...for the entire Graham family of past and present, saying thank you isn't enough. To stop a terrorist cult and save the world from a parasitic spread which would've meant millions lost, there's no end to our gratitude. We may never see you again, but we'll never forget you." Touching words.

"That wasn't bad," Paul sincerely acknowledged. "It's hard to think of the words to say on the fly, especially when people leave you for good." Even if it sounded positive, Dawn and Gary didn't believe a word he spoke.

'Jerk!' Gary thought as he entered the portal back home. Brock was dragged back by the frog after another glowing jab. Good chance he tried to hit on Ashley.

"Well, you and your family be careful," Dawn wished as she entered the portal with Piplup. Ash and Paul were left.

"Time to say goodbye, Ash," he advised as he joined the rest. Ash was ready, much to the upsetting fact that he wasn't going to see the United States anymore.

"Ash, listen," Ashley muttered. Ash turned to Ashley as Pikachu bolted through the vortex. "You see... I don't wanna let you go." Ash was a bit surprised to hear that confession from the first daughter. "You've helped me throughout the danger in Spain and I just feel a very..." She was fumbling her words terribly as she sobbed.

"Ashley..." he shuttered. Without warning, Ashley dove onto Ash in a bear hug and cried tears onto his shoulder.

"I love you, Ash Ketchum!" Ash started to understand Ashley's feelings and wrapped his hands to her head. After a minute together.

"Mr. Ketchum, the vortex will close in 20 seconds," a scientist warned. The Ashes broke their hug.

"Farewell," he thanked before dashing into the portal. Once he entered, the portal powered down and disappeared. Ashley could only think about what kind of man Ash was when he rescued her. Ash was clueless when he and his rivals entered but when his voice got altered, so did the name of the game. Now, Ash was back in his home world...and all Ashley could do was nothing.

* * *

><p><em>(Later in the futureTwinleaf Dock)_

Ash, Dawn, Brock and Pikachu were at the docks for one last time together. After returning from the other world, Ash resumed his training and competed in the region's tournament: the Lily of the Valley Conference. His old voice carried him further than anyone would've anticipated as he finished runner-up, losing in the final. It was a very close match and he lost against his opponent's last Pokémon. Still, his voice had never left him which was incredible. Paul lost to Ash in the quarterfinals, both down to their last Pokémon. Right now, Ash, Pikachu and Brock were departing for their home region. Brock was carrying quite a few bags for his trip to Kanto. "Thanks for taking us around Sinnoh, Dawn," Ash praised as he wore a black soccer jersey with a blackbird patch which read "DC UNITED."

"I should thank you for helping me with my Pokémon," Dawn greeted. "Though I gotta admit, that scar on your chest and back is scary, even though your story is more unbelievable than how you got to Spain." There's always some back story that gets lost in the transition.

"Well, here's to us meeting in the future." They signed it with a high-five. Pikachu and Piplup copied their humans. That's when one more person came forward.

"This heading to Kanto?" sounded Paul. Same look, same scowl...you'd thought that the adventure through Spain had actually made Paul act or look a little different.

"Yeah," Brock replied.

"Good. There's a matter with Gary I need to settle. I'll be going to Pallet Town to meet and battle him to determine who is the better rival to this trainer." What happened to him saying "pathetic?"

"You're always welcomed to join, Paul," Ash smiled. Paul gave him the look that would silence Ash but he smirked back, not intimidated.

"Just leave me in my suite." Prick. Paul walked up the staircase on board the ferry. Ash and Brock followed somewhat and joined Paul and a lot of people heading to Kanto. Last, the ship was departing, much to the sadness on Dawn's and Piplup's thoughts.

"Dawn!" Ash called out, alerting the blue-haired. "No need to worry!" That brightened her and had her chase the ferry to the end of the dock, waving. The ship sailed into the night with Ash reminiscing the adventure not just through Sinnoh but Spain. He was hanging over starboard.

"How's that injury holding up?" Ash didn't need to look at who was talking.

"Just fine." Paul got to the railing on starboard with Ash. For a minute, neither said a word. "Still thinking about what happened in Spain?" Paul snorted away, not wanting to talk about that or so it seemed.

"I'm still wondering how you were immune to the plagas' effects. You had to have suffered an episode, right?"

"Yeah...after I beat that lizard in that one lake. I had it again when I woke up from that first seizure and Pikachu Thunder-bolted me back to my senses...and old voice."

"And since then, the plagas wasn't an issue. That's pretty pathetic." There's the old Paul.

"What, did I need to put a little pizzazz into it? The truth's not enough?" Paul chuckled a little, frighteningly enjoying this conversation.

"Maybe." There's no pleasing Paul. "Like Ashley giving you a kiss when you two first met or Ashley having some sort of ability to communicate with the plagas." These two appeared to have buried their hatchet with each other.

"Aw...the twerp has a crush with a girl?" sounded Jessie from above. The boys looked up to see Team Rocket, the same buffoons who sent them to Spain. "That's so cute of such an ignorant twerp like you." James and Meowth were rather shocked to see Jessie get into Ash's head.

"Team Rocket, you're aware what time it is, right?" Ash pointed out.

"I know what time it is, alright. Make her scream." Make who?

"Jessie, I don't think this is a good idea," James chickened. Jessie wanted this to happen.

"Do it before I throw you overboard!" Who did Team Rocket have on board their hot air balloon the shape of Meowth's head? It's baffling.

"Let me go!" a familiar voice bellowed in agony. It clicked for Ash on who those dirty Rockets had.

"Ashley?" Wasn't she in the safe company of her father? Before acutally determining that theory, Ash released Staraptor. "Use Brave Bird!" Staraptor charged in, glowing a burning blue. KABOOM! The balloon was destroyed, causing the basket to fall onto the deck. Writhing in a bit of pain and wearing a white dress and stiletto heels, Ashley squirmed out of the basket where Ash reached to untie her. "I gotcha!"

"Thanks, dear." Team Rocket got up and faced the rivals.

"Alright, I would've gladly traded her for your Pikachu!" Jessie dumbly explained. "So where's your Pokémon?" Ash and Paul were amazed at how stupid Team Rocket was. Ashley was a lot more valuable than Pikachu. Let's not forget that he's sleeping with Brock.

"That is so pathetic," Paul reviewed their plans.

"Tell me about it," the Ashes snorted in unison. Jessie didn't like being called pathetic.

"It certainly takes one who's pathetic to know who's pathetic!" she stormed. She snagged a ball while Paul whipped out...an RPG? Talk about overkill. However, Jessie thought the RPG was a fake. "That toy? War games are over, so you can discard that toy." Jessie was so stupid, it wasn't even funny. Paul fired the RPG where Jessie realized...it was real. KABLAM! The Rockets were blown to the sky. "Those things exist?"

"OF COURSE!" James and Meowth snapped together. Jessie's face looked dumbfounded. Well, we won't be seeing them again.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" all three signed off together. Now that they're gone, Ash and Paul could wonder what Ashley's doing here. Heck, where did Paul get that RPG?

"Ashley, what are-" Ash tried to ask but Ashley cut him off with a kiss to the lips. Ashley didn't want to discuss how she's in the Pokémon world. Paul chose not to ask himself and instead looked out to the ocean, thinking about what he remembered from Earth.

"A great philosopher once warned to keep your friends close and your enemies closer," he recalled. "Now that I think about it, the only ones who were close...were Ash and Gary. They were my enemies...but now, it's a trust that bonds us. Protect all from the evil. Ash Ketchum is...a great person." A time in a struggle can do that to the best as the boat carries all to Kanto.

* * *

><p>EL FIN<p> 


End file.
